


Battleship

by umigay



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, Canon Gay Character, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Eventual Smut, F/F, Historical AU, Historical Inaccuracy, Lots of normal girls as well!!, Platonic Relationships, Romeo and Juliet References, Violence, Yuri, badass mafia!rin, honk and arise do exist they just take a while to appear, possible tsubahono in later chapters, umi/maki arranged marriage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-07-11 08:45:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 38,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7041304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umigay/pseuds/umigay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One side - Minamis, Koizumis and Toujous. The other side - Sonodas, Nishikinos and Yazawas. The feud between the Sonodas and Minamis has lasted decades, and is still raging strong today. Romeo & Juliet style AU, Historical AU. May be NSFW later on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. War

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to write a historical AU for Love Live, and now I finally am ^^"  
> This story may suck at first but hopefully it will get better. And hopefully I will update. also I haven't really read much Love Live fanfic so if there's another historical au out there idk man.

The wind howled, like a wolf in the dead of night atop a hill bearing dew-drenched grass and rustling trees, but the woman standing above the muddy ground of the clifftop was not a wolf and she did not care much for the wind. Cold blue eyes like ice cutting into your skin, poking at every pore and destroying you faster than you can learn her name – a light Russian complexion, curved nose and soft lips, eyelashes naturally long and curved and cheeks as pale as daylight. These were the features that earned Ayase Eli her fame, and with fame came the responsibility to maintain her ‘flawless’ features.

But Eli also had a mission to maintain. Being a knight, let alone the Queen’s personal knight, was a heavy strain on her, and working for the Minami’s had earned her many scars over the years from sword fights. She never settled for anything less than sword fights – knife fights were for the allies, the Toujous and the Koizumis. Although the Koizumi house preferred to stay out of the more violent side of the Minami’s affairs, if they were called upon, they had a duty to fulfil and they were expected to fulfil it.

The feud between the Minami house and the Sonoda house had caused grief to many of Eli’s loved ones, therefore, amongst others, Eli did indeed wish for it to come to an end. However, it wasn’t a simple matter of resolving the issue – there was an intense feud between the two households, and no amount of pleading or even demanding would end it. The only way it would end is if one side won and claimed the other, and as a Minami knight, Eli knew she had to ensure it was the Minami side that claimed victory.

It wasn’t that she had anything against the Sonodas as a family – she had never encountered any of the family itself, she had merely encountered their knights and the street fighters from the Nishikino and Yazawa houses, primarily. Occasionally they would recruit any old street fighter to use as fodder to protect the Nishikinos and Yazawas. They couldn’t lose too many fighters to useless battles in alleyways or abandoned buildings.

 Eli was fortunate in that she was among the elite, soldiers hand-picked by the lady of the Minami house to serve them well. She was often given missions, whether it was to capture an enemy or to rescue an ally, and she carried out her missions obediently and efficiently. She was, as many described, the Queen’s favourite, and she felt blessed by this fact; if she wasn’t on the best side of the Queen, she’d be at a larger risk of defeat. And for Ayase Eli, defeat was not something she saw in her future.

As for why she stood upon an elevated hill, staring out upon the night sky she despised so badly – she did not know. Blood still stained her clothing from the fight she had barely escaped with half her team left; it was not often she lost that many men to one battle, but it had been particularly nasty in that the Yazawas were involved. And Yazawas were known for their brutal fighting styles.

They all had roles. Yazawas, the fighters who played dirty. Nishikinos, the healers who backed up the Yazawas, who were too pacifist for their own good and only got involved if they were jumped. Toujous, the spiritual ones – they could fight well, and tended to be extremely accurate with ranged weapons. And Koizumis, who valued stealth and were truly the trump card for the Minami household and the reason they had the upper hand against the Sonodas.

Eli did not know where she fell in on that spectrum. She was not part of an original branch house, she was just an Ayase, a name that fell flat many years ago; centuries, she dared say. There was no association with her name other than the Queen’s favourite knight, and even then her forename, Eli, was forgotten by many. She supposed that as she was a knight, her name wasn’t one people felt they needed to remember. They remembered the names of the Minamis. To be more specific, the Queen’s heiress, Lady Kotori of the Minami House.

Eli had never spoken directly to Kotori, but often saw her when she went to discuss her next mission with the Queen. She was a well-spoken, polite girl who clearly had a good grasp on the idea of etiquette. Her calm and soothing attitude had a lot of men and women grappling for the chance to be even a potential suitor for the young heiress, and Eli could not blame them. Had she been a noble and forced to pick someone for an arranged marriage, she would have gone for Kotori as well. It just seemed like the best option.

 “Ayase.”

Eli jumped at the formal way the person spoke her name, and turned around to face a member of the Koizumi house. She had dark hair and a patch over one eye, not uncommon for a Koizumi. Eli bowed her head in acknowledgement.

“The carriage has arrived. The wounded have been taken into the Toujou cart, and there is little room on the Koizumi cart, but hopefully you shall fit in.”

“Thank you…” Eli frowned. She did not know the girl’s name.

 “My name is Saika.” Eli bowed her head once again in apology for forgetting the girl’s name. “This was my first mission, so I do not feel offended. It is only natural for you to not recognise me by name or face.”

“I shall remember, Saika. I promise.”

Saika led her back to the carriages, and the sight greeting Eli was one she had grown well-adjusted to – the Toujou healers (they had the second most amount after the Nishikinos) lifting up unconscious bodies of fighters and moving them into the carriages. They often stayed behind for hours making room for all the casualties in their carts, and by the time the Toujou carriages set off the Koizumi carriages would be well on their way back to the Minami kingdom.

The Koizumi carriages were cramped, but they made enough room for Eli and Saika to join them, and once they were all ready, they bid farewell to the healers staying behind, who in return wished them a safe journey, and the whistle from one of the Koizumis signalled for the journey home to begin. They had not travelled out too far from the kingdom, as the gang of Yazawas had managed to get pretty far towards the kingdom before sighted by a Koizumi spy.

The journey home was silent, more so than usual – then again, it was understandable, really. People had lost their allies, close friends, even lovers in some cases, and everyone was a little shaken. Many were covered in blood, Eli included – it stained her clothing as a permanent reminder that she had committed another sin. She had not been to church in many years since her father’s death, but as he was a heavily religious person, she had been taught that sin was bad. Sins like murder, sins like engaging in intimate relations prior to marriage, it was always about ‘sin’ and ‘don’t sin’ and Eli never truly believed in the religion her father forced her into.

That was why after his death she ran away from home to become a knight. It had always been an ambition of hers, to fight for the Minamis, but she’d never been able to make it a reality what with her father’s belief of her being a pacifist. She had secretly trained to improve her strength at night or when her father wasn’t around, and after he died of illness she seized the opportunity and was initially recruited as a simple fighter. However, once she proved to be far greater in talent than the others in her small class of around ten cadets, she was moved to a more elite group; overpowering even them, she worked her way up to the top and then proved her worth to the Queen, who wanted her on the Minami’s most elite squad, which Eli was now the commander of.

Of course, her duty as commander wasn’t to order them around; she could if she wanted to, and had every power to do so, but she saw her fellow soldiers as her equals and listened to their ideas and strategies. She wanted them to all finish missions as a team, not just her commanding them to do what she thought would be best – because as weird as it may sound, Ayase Eli did make mistakes, and in those times, her team was right behind her to cover them up and fix them with their own talent.

That was probably why she had formed such a great bond with her elite squad over the years, and her leadership skills followed by their teamwork skills had brought them great triumphs in the past and continued to do so. For this battle, her team had joined with many more Koizumis and Toujous to form a larger team, yet nearly half of this team had perished despite Eli’s attempts to push forward and prevent more deaths.

She did not know how she would inform the Queen of all the deaths and casualties; however, as it was her duty to do so, she needed to think of an idea quickly on the journey back. She found herself absent-mindedly twirling a blonde curl around her index finger, a habit she was often prone to when nervous or just deep in thought.

“Are you wounded, Eli?”

Eli looked up to find the familiar face of Toujou Seki, a girl who had married into the Toujou family and held quite a heavy influence on it. Eli didn’t know why Seki had been allowed to join them on such a dangerous mission, but she figured now was not the time for questions – Seki had survived, and that was all that mattered.

“Just a few scratches here and there. Nothing a bandage or two can’t fix.”

Seki nodded. “You know, you’ve been acting rather tense lately. I pray you are in good health, Eli?”

Eli furrowed her brows. “I’ve been a little under pressure, but I didn’t know anybody else had realised the extent of my stress.”

“One of my husband’s cousins is known for her spiritual powers. Perhaps you could go and see her to have some of the stress lifted? She’s very talented, I’ve been there myself back around the time of my grandfather’s death. I was definitely a lot calmer coming back out than I was going in.”

“I’ve never really attempted all of that spiritual stuff, really. I don’t think it will help me, to be quite frank with you.”

“Oh, but Nozomi is different, I promise!”

 _Nozomi._ Eli couldn’t say that the name was familiar, but perhaps she’d heard of this strange spiritual lady once or twice prior. She didn’t believe in all the spiritual stuff the Toujous preached, but she couldn’t exactly speak of such things in the presence of many Toujous. “I’ll think about it.”

Seki’s face brightened. “I hope you do pay her a visit, Eli! She says she’s seen you on the training grounds and apparently she thinks your skill is very admirable.”

Eli felt her face flush slightly. “Is that so?”

“Yep. Dare I say, she seems rather smitten with you.”

“That’s enough of that, Seki. I’m sure Nozomi wouldn’t want you spilling her secrets in a cart full of people,” a stranger next to Seki said.

“But Yukio-”

“Just drop it, Seki.”

Eli’s attention had diverted from the conversation to the ground. Even after all this time working under the Queen, she had still not gotten used to the constant praise she received from people around the castle. Sometimes she’d just be walking along the market, looking to buy some new goods, and someone would recognise her and tell her how much they admired her for her amazing leadership skills and sword-handling skills.

It was odd. Most other people would be happy being smothered in praise and attention, but Eli just wanted to carry out her childhood dream of becoming a knight without her father around to force his religion on her and prevent such a dream from becoming reality. She did not want the extra attention that came along with it, she just wanted to serve the kingdom and she wanted to serve the kingdom well, but if this praise and applause came along with it, well, that was just something she’d have to bear.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence, a few mutters being exchanged across the carriage, and once they arrived at the lit-up castle, they were all escorted from the carriage into the throne room. Queen Minami sat on her throne as usual, with Lady Kotori and a girl with short olive brown hair who appeared to be Kotori’s new…well, Eli didn’t know what they were called, but Kotori usually had someone who escorted her around town and helped her dress in the morning and basically did chores for her. The old one had been discovered as a Yazawa spy and arrested, so this must be the new one.

“I see you have returned in well condition,” Queen Minami spoke, and Eli bowed before the throne.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I worked my hardest to protect both myself and my teammates, but unfortunately, there were many casualties and losses in that fight. It was quite the unexpected ambush of a gang of Yazawas armed with knives.”

Queen Minami bowed her head in respect. “I am sorry for your losses, Ayase Eli. I pray we can still patch up the team after this fight; there are many new arrivals who need shaping up, and plenty of talented veterans in line for the elite team.”

Eli’s eyes widened. “Oh, no, there were no losses from my elite team. No, I closely guarded them, but…I was very foolish, and that caused the demise of many of the standard soldiers. I did not even know the majority of their names. I am sorry, Your Majesty.” She bowed her head and prayed that Queen Minami would accept her apology. It was sincere, after all.

Queen Minami nodded. “Do not fret over such things, Eli. There will be losses in every battle, but for every loss, there is a gain. We won that fight you participated so bravely in. I received news that the Yazawas were fleeing the scene by the time you’d gotten started on them. So every loss we suffered during that fight, they all added up to make a gain for the kingdom, and their deaths were not in vain. How many Yazawas were killed?”

“I could not say for sure, Your Majesty, but there were about fifty of them coming in. I can only assume we split their numbers in half, at least that gang. It was a half for a half, I suppose, but in the end they have been kept from our kingdom and that’s all that matters.”

“Well said, Eli.” Queen Minami bowed her head.

Eli gestured over to the olive-haired girl. “If I may ask, who is this?”

Kotori turned to the girl and whispered something, and the olive-haired girl jumped and stood up quickly, her face flushed and eyes wide.

“U-Um!” she stuttered. “My name i-is H-Hanayo Koizumi. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Eli!” She bowed. Eli could sense the nervousness in her voice, and felt sorry for the poor girl; she clearly hadn’t been raised in an environment based around etiquette, and here she had been forced into this castle alongside the Queen and the Princess.

Nevertheless, Eli smiled and bowed in return. “Excuse the intrusion.”

Hanayo nodded and sat back down, bowing her head and threading her thumbs together, fiddling before noticing Queen Minami’s eyes on her and quickly stopping.

“You are dismissed, Eli.” Queen Minami stood up from her throne and stepped down once, twice, before she was on equal grounds with Eli.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Eli said, and looked towards Kotori. “Your Highness.” Kotori returned a smile and a nod of acknowledgment, and Eli offered Hanayo a small smile before turning and making her way out.

Before leaving, she turned to see the Minamis and the Koizumi still watching her, and she figured she needed to say something. Something to reassure them – she’d been so careless during that fight that it had cost the kingdom quite a hefty amount of soldiers, and she needed to find some way to make it up to the Minamis.

“I promise there will be no other incident like this,” she said. “I will help bring victory to the Minami house. I promise.”

She turned around without waiting for their reaction, and left the castle.

~-~

“Nishikino Maki.”

A bag was pressed into her hand as the farmer’s wife offered her a smile, and the redhead attempted to smile back, in spite of herself.

“You’ve done a good job today, Miss Nishikino.” Maki nodded in acknowledgment before the woman spoke again. “I cannot help but recognise your last name – I cannot possibly fathom why the Nishikino daughter would be working on such a lowly estate.”

“I am working for these rewards,” Maki said, holding up the bag. “I need these plants for my medicines, and Mother is never really accepting of the fact that I have learned to craft my own. She fears I am still too young to be interested in medical crafts like she is, so I merely work to earn what I need, and you are the person who can supply me with them. I believe that things need to be exchanged equally – a few hours of work for these plants is more than fair.”

The farmer’s wife nodded. “My husband is very pleased with you. He says that once he’s back on his feet, he will give you a pat on the head and some coins for you to take back home.”

Maki shook her head. “Oh no, Miss, I don’t need coins. The Nishikino family has more wealth than good; it’s not too costly to be a household of healers.” She bowed her head and offered an uncertain smile. “Speaking of healing, I do have a mission to carry out tonight. So I will be off. Thank you for the plants.”

“Take care out there, Miss Nishikino!”

 Maki nodded and waved as she ran towards the gates. She stared at a large clock on the tower in the centre of town. _Shit, I’m gonna be late._ They were due to leave on carriages in half an hour, and she was a couple miles off from home.

Maki Nishikino was not weak. She could run the distance between the farm and her home without breaking a sweat, but it was a matter of time before the carriages set off and she _needed_ this mission, she needed to prove herself as worthy to her father. This was the kind of mission that needed Maki’s skills – the Yazawa gang had attempted an attack on the Minami kingdom, and unfortunately been defeated by a team of Koizumis who had jumped them a little far off from the border. News of their status had been sent home by pigeon, and it did not look like they were faring very well.

Maki was not really interested in what the Yazawas got up to. In fact, she’d never spoken to a Yazawa outside of when she healed their wounds or nursed them back to health. She didn’t know the daily lives of Yazawas, she only knew that they were bloodthirsty, violent creatures who loved nothing more than a good knife fight on the streets. Dangerous criminals, were the Yazawas, and Maki didn’t want to be caught up in such affairs.

Besides, she was finally getting on with her life now. She had received news of her engagement to the Sonoda heir the previous week, and she was due to meet her future spouse the next evening. She did not know anything about the Sonoda heir other than the fact that she was a ‘well-spoken young lady’. Then again, nearly all royals were like that, noble and courteous, having grown up practising proper etiquette for as long as they remembered. Sonodas were pretty much the polar opposite of Yazawas, and yet the families worked together in harmony against the Minamis.

Maki didn’t understand these feuds, or these alliances.

A carriage approached, and Maki stuck her arm out into the streets, waving it before the carriage drew to a close. A dark-haired lady sat atop a horse, carrying a few large sacks on the cart behind her. She bore a curious expression as she questioned Maki, “Where are you off to, sweetheart?”

“I need to get to the castle,” Maki said.

“Oh, really? It must be important, then. Hop on, I was heading in that direction anyway.”

Maki clambered onto the cart, clumsily landing squashed between two giant sacks of what appeared to be seeds. She managed to somehow make herself comfortable and the woman started up the horse.

“I apologise for the lack of space,” she said.

“It’s fine. It’s not your fault, you didn’t expect me to join you.”

 The woman nodded, and hummed silently to herself as they travelled. It was about five minutes before she spoke again. “What business do you have at the castle? I am sorry if I am not supposed to ask such a thing, I am merely curious as to what a young girl like you wants with the Sonodas.”

“I am a member of the Nishikino house, and I am also the fiancée of the heir to the Sonoda throne. I am heading there to carry out an urgent mission regarding the Yazawas and a fight they all got roughed up in.”

“I see. That’s rather surprising, the future wife of the Sonoda heir and a Nishikino to be with me. I would say I’m honoured, but it’s not like you chose me specifically.” She laughed lightly.

“It’s not all that great,” Maki said. “I don’t spend much time at home anymore. I’m either working in the farm or out in the forest collecting herbs and wild berries and plants.”

 “Why don’t you spend much time at home? The Nishikino house is rather beautiful. It has such a splendour to it.”

 “My mother disapproves of many of the things I do. I want to get into the medicine business properly, but she disallows me from doing so; she says I am far too young and it is dangerous. She cannot seem to grasp that I am soon to be sixteen and married off to the heir of the Sonoda throne – I am more than capable of making a few medicines, especially after all the lessons she paid for me to take.”

The lady listened and nodded. “Ah, yes. The lady of the Nishikino house is quite the elegant lady, but also seems very stern. I understand your troubles. When I wanted to get married, my mother disapproved very muchly of the man I intended to give myself to. She tried to stop the wedding from taking place, but I simply left home and moved in with my husband. We’re happily married to this day, with two kids, even.”

Maki nodded. “I do not think I could ever be happily married. All I know about my future wife is that she is well-spoken and good at royal etiquette.”

“Ah, you are in an arranged marriage, no?” Maki nodded. “Well, I know one or two people who have been in arranged marriages, and once you spend a lot of time with the person you are to be wed to, you can find yourself at least tolerating them, but in one of my friends’ cases, she fell in love with the woman she was arranged to marry.”

Maki stared out at the scenery of the kingdom. _Happily married. Falling in love._ That kind of stuff…it seemed unrealistic. Maki had never fallen in love before. She’d never even experienced attraction. Her heart did not flutter at the thought of marrying an attractive, rich, noble heir – odd for a fifteen year old girl – and the other girls she spent a lot of time around always giggled and gossiped about the people they loved. _Love_. She never understood it. Even familial love; her mother was strict and her father was never around. It was a miracle that she had been able to go on this mission with him. It had been a long time coming; Maki had constantly plagued her father whenever he was around (which was rare) to let her go on a mission and prove herself to him. When he finally caved in and accepted, Maki was overjoyed; but trust her father to place her on an extremely difficult mission.

There would be a lot of Yazawas when they arrived. A lot of Yazawas in need of medical attention.

The carriage reached the castle, and Maki jumped out, landing not-so gracefully on the ground, only to be met with another person standing in front of her. She looked up and met the gaze of her father, who had a hard look in his eyes as he stared back down at his clumsy daughter.

“Maki,” he said, “you’re lucky you made it in time.”

Her father’s voice was low, gruff and raspy – she never interpreted anything he said as positive from the way he spoke. His way of speaking sounded automatic, monotonous, lifeless; she only really heard him speak when he was telling her how to do something or giving her lessons.

“We’re about to leave, so hurry up.”

Maki nodded. It was impolite to speak unless spoken to in the Nishikino house, and Maki never had anything to say to her father. She used to ask a lot of questions to him when she was little, but his dull way of responding caused her spark of curiosity to fade away into nothingness.

The redhead approached the carriage she had been assigned to and ducked down as she headed inside, being greeted by a small cart full of the most elite healers in the Nishikino house. She was acknowledged by curt nods and assigned a seat by her father, who promptly seated himself beside her. The door to the carriage closed and she felt the jolt as the horse began to carry them to their destination.

The journey took a good half hour, give or take, and when they arrived, the scene was a lot worse than they expected. Wounded and unconscious bodies were undistinguishable from the dead, and everyone’s expressions were grim as they stared upon the scene.

Maki looked out upon the scene. She had not been affected by the sight of corpses, mainly because she didn’t know which ones were dead and which were not. That was one of the miserable jobs the Nishikinos had to carry out – telling apart the dead from the alive, the severely wounded from the merely unconscious. She wondered what her duty would be.

“Maki,” her father said in his gruff voice as they stepped out. “I’m giving you a simple task, as you are new to this and this is a serious mission.” He gestured over to a nearby tree.

Maki turned, and what she saw shocked her beyond belief. A girl, who looked to be about a year younger than her, was propped up against the tree, her hand pressed against a large open wound in her arm. She had black hair in two loose tails, the red ribbons nearly sliding off her hair. She was conscious, her eyes open to reveal red orbs unlike anything Maki had ever seen before.

She felt a slight prick to her heart, but passed it off as surprise at just how young some of the people the Yazawas sent out were.

“Tend to her wounds, and don’t mess up. Apparently she’s a vital asset to the Yazawa gang, so be careful with her, okay?” Maki nodded, dumbfounded and speechless as her father left to tend to some more Yazawas.

Maki headed over to the black-haired girl, and knelt down beside her. The girl, whose eyes had somehow fluttered close between when Maki was looking at her and when Maki knelt down, opened one of them to get a look at who had knelt down on the muddy ground beside her.

“What’s your name?” Maki asked. It was one of the rules her father had taught her – whilst you prepare the supplies, make small talk with the patient.

“Nico.”

“Yazawa Nico?”

“Yeah.”

Maki nodded curtly and opened up the box, finding everything she needed within it. She took the bottle of water and bar of soap and poured some water over the wound, hoping the black-haired girl would take it well. Nico’s face screwed up slightly, but all in all, she handled the water well. Now for the soap.

Maki began to rub in the soap. “This may sting a little,” she said, and began to wash the wound. She tried to remember what her father said – this wound was definitely severe, but there was no one around who had the tools necessary to actually properly patch up the wound, so Maki was left to clean it and wrap it up to help keep it safe until they returned to the kingdom.

She needed to clean the wound for the next five minutes. “What happened back there, then, Nico?”

“We tried to jump them, but the Koizumis were one step ahead. They came at us like lightning and it wasn’t pretty. The guy I’d trained with for the last few years got killed right off the bat. Stabbed in the heart, skewered by one of them goddamn Koizumis’ swords. I was lucky to get out with just this pathetic cut; the one that cut me got his throat slit.” Nico offered a bloodied smile. “It sure is nice to have back-up when you need it, huh?”

Maki coughed slightly. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t get into knife fights.” Nico fell silent and Maki, being the awkward, useless girl she was, let the conversation fall flat just like that. She never knew how to keep a conversation flowing, so she spent the next few minutes in silent agony before the wound was sufficiently cleaned.

She removed her hands from the wound, and Nico looked up lazily. “Is that all?”

“Nowhere near,” Maki said. “I need to apply pressure, then dress the wound and wrap it. It won’t hurt too bad from now on.” Nico nodded and Maki grabbed a clean towel, pressing it down against Nico’s wound. She came to the realisation that it would take about fifteen minutes.

She cursed under her breath, and Nico raised an eyebrow, but ignored it. Maki sighed and spoke up. “This one takes a lot longer than the last, so we might as well make conversation, right?”

“Well, you’re a friendly one,” Nico said. “Then again, last time I got treated the chick was really into the whole small talk thing. She went on for ages about how good she was at medicine.”

“Was she good?”

“Nah. Stupid bitch got my leg infected. Was a pain to heal, but after that I was back to training. Never realised how much routine matters until I had parts of it taken away from me.”

“That sounds rough. How did you injure your leg?”

“Some guy stabbed me in the thigh. Hurt like hell, but I managed to knife him out of pure rage and adrenaline. Honestly, the things humans can do when they get an adrenaline rush…it’s odd.”

Maki shuddered. She’d never liked it when she saw people fight, people turn from respectable citizens to bloodthirsty warriors in a matter of seconds. Her father was a pacifist and refused to fight with anyone, and the majority of Nishikinos were not primarily fighters, more adjusted to the _healer_ side, but Maki had never experienced a fight herself. She knew how to defend herself – well, the basics – but she’d never received any training beyond that.

“How can you do this?” Maki asked.

“What do you mean?”

“ _This_ , this whole…fighting people, that thing. It seems so inhumane, and yet you keep doing it, you keep getting injured and you keep having to be patched up.” Maki sighed and pressed down a little harder on the wound. “I just don’t get it, really. Why people do this.”

“Cause losing may hurt like a bitch, but winning feels fucking great.” Nico grinned, the same macabre grin that would haunt Maki in her dreams. “I guess a Nishikino like you wouldn’t know nothin’ about fights.”

“Treating the injuries of the wounded. Arriving at the scenes of the fights, finding corpses, lifting them and transporting them to be buried, watching as patients die before your very eyes…Nishikinos may not know much about the fighting in itself, but they know more than enough about the aftermath of fights, and it’s not pleasant.”

“The aftermath is just a necessary part of fighting.”

“A part that shouldn’t need to be necessary if the fighting stopped.”

“But the fighting _won’t_ stop,” Nico said, and when Maki looked up to meet her eyes she was met with an intense glare. “Because the first side that chooses to give up and end the fighting, is the side that loses. And neither Sonoda nor Minami wants to lose, so nobody gives up. Hence why this bloody fighting and all these casualties and deaths are still happening.”

Maki let her gaze fall back down to the wound and sighed. She knew that Nico was right, that the fighting would not stop no matter what the redhead said, because at the end of the day, nobody really gave a shit about what the Nishikino house thought. They were there merely to cure the wounded and prevent the death rate from raising. Nishikinos were worthless otherwise, aside from the few who were good at fighting. Maki allowed the rest of the time to be spent in silence, before she began to dress the wound, being extra careful and checking to see if it hurt Nico, but the black-haired girl seemed to be in good condition. She finally wrapped the wound and backed away.

“It should be good for the journey home, at least. We can get you to a proper doctor back there.”

“Have you done this before?”

“No. This was my first mission.”

“You did pretty damn good, then,” Nico said, and Maki bowed her head as she collected up her items and put them back in the box.

“Thank you, Yazawa Nico.”

Maki stood up and picked up the box, beginning to walk back to her father, who had just returned to the carriage to load a few unconscious bodies onto one of them. Her hand raised to her hair and found that the side ponytail she had tied had come loose, the ribbon threatening to fall off completely – whilst she waited, she decided to tie it back up, and as usual, the same strand of hair fell in front of her face, refusing to cooperate with the others.

“Wait!”

She turned around, surprised to find the black-haired girl on her feet, noticing how short the girl was. She looked even younger when she stood up, and Maki wondered how anyone thought it was a good idea to put such a young girl in a team of bloodthirsty bastards.

“What’s your name?”

“Nishikino Maki.”

“How old are you, Nishikino Maki?”

Maki furrowed her brows, confused by the sudden overload of questions, but answered anyway. “I am nearly sixteen.” She remembered she didn’t know Nico’s age either. “How old are you?” She was expecting something like fourteen or even thirteen, but she was surprised.

“Eighteen.”

Maki spluttered and choked, beginning to cough. She looked up and Nico was regarding her with a hostile expression. “Don’t comment on my height or looks, or I’ll gut you like a fish.”

“I apologise,” Maki said. “Take care, Yazawa Nico.”

She turned around and walked over to the carriage, where her father quickly escorted her into the same space she’d sat previously. She watched out the window as Nico joined a taller man who looked to be her father or something, and the man lifted Nico up onto a horse and then mounted his own.

 _She rides horses?_ Maki shook her head. No time to dwell too much on the mysterious girl that was Yazawa Nico. She couldn’t waste time on other people, anyway. Tomorrow she was to meet her future wife and heir to the Sonoda throne, and she’d be preoccupied from then on with fulfilling her duties as a wife. She sighed longingly. She wondered if this was the only mission she’d be able to go on, considering soon enough she’d move in with the Sonodas and be away from home, not being able to spend time around her father or mother.

“You did a good job, Maki,” her father said, and she felt a hand patting her on the head. Her eyes widened. Her father…petted her? “That Yazawa girl looked to be in good shape. Well done. You’ve certainly proven yourself.”

Although her face remained unsmiling, an unfamiliar warmth filled Maki’s heart at the praise from her father. She had validation from him. She _was_ capable.

“It’s a shame you have to become a wife rather than an official Nishikino healer, but such is life, I suppose.”

Maki’s face fell.

_I’m still going to be forced to be a wife._

She had never really expected any different.


	2. Political Marriage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kotori comforts Hanayo whilst watching the birds, and Maki and Umi meet for the first time and last time before their marriage.

If there was one thing Kotori Minami could say she truly enjoyed, it would be sewing. She loved to immerse herself in bringing her latest design to life, and her mother was kind enough to provide the necessary fabrics and tools for Kotori to be able to sew. She had been learning since she was a child, and her mother took her to a woman who taught her the basics of sewing; Kotori realised then that she had a true passion for the activity, and opted to continue taking lessons until she was good enough to learn on her own. The woman popped in every once in a while to check up on Kotori’s progress, but she was mainly teaching herself now, just from trial and error.

So when she entered her quarters after the meeting with her mother and the blonde knight called Eli, she was relieved to find that her handmaiden hadn’t moved her sketchbook from her table where she left it, alongside her sewing materials. She knew her desk was a mess; her previous handmaiden had often tried to move everything accordingly so nothing got ruined, but inevitably would tear a seam or something. Kotori was glad that her new handmaiden, Hanayo, had the common courtesy to not move the important materials.

Kotori couldn’t imagine what would happen if her sketchbook went missing. It contained sketches of every design she was the most proud of – rough sketches went on normal parchment, and the proper detailed designs went into this sketchbook. It was an old, plain black book, the spine damaged from how many times Kotori had flipped through her designs. She flipped it open to her most recent design for the upcoming Minami ball.

Normally her mother paid a seamstress to design an elaborate and elegant gown for Kotori to wear, as the princess was always expected to wear beautiful dresses at every occasion – however, Kotori was planning something new for this year. The Minami ball was an annual celebration of the Queen’s reign, and Kotori was always one of the stars of the show. With her long, caramel-coloured hair and her soft droopy eyes and pink lips, she was definitely pleasant to look at for the other guests. It wasn’t like she didn’t have self-confidence; she was perfectly aware of her own beauty, but it was the excessive amount of attention she received from others which was hard to grasp. She had grown adjusted to being the centre of attention and smiling and waving and speaking in a higher voice than what was natural because her mother thought it would be cute if she taught her daughter to speak higher.

There was always some sort of standard she had to live up to when it came to her mother. She loved her mother dearly, and she was by far the finest ruler the Minami kingdom had been reigned by, but sometimes her expectations were set too high. It was always more, more polite, more cute, more pretty, more soft, more this, more that, Kotori had never been seen as satisfactory to her mother. And she did not want to disappoint.

She would give her mother what she wanted, and in return she’d receive her praise, but always another target.

Kotori sighed and started sketching in the details. She’d done the basic outline – an elegant ballgown, the colour scheme of many shades of gold; flax, saffron and, Kotori’s personal favourite, jasmine. She had a passion for extravagant, complex dresses, with layers of satin and silk and frills – she loved designing dresses more than anything else, because there was just so much you could do with dresses.

About two minutes into her sketching, she ran out of ideas. It wasn’t uncommon for this to happen; Kotori wasn’t as creative as people thought she was from her designs. It took time and effort to create her designs, and once she ran out of inspiration she’d return to it another day. However, this left her with nothing to do. She couldn’t go outside because it was deemed ‘unsafe’, considering the Yazawas had been around the outskirts just hours prior. She had no friends within the castle of whose company she actually enjoyed, and her only hobby really was sewing. She leaned forward on her desk, looking out through the window upon the beautiful castle grounds.

She was blessed with this glorious view every morning and every evening when she took a few moments to appreciate the wonderful environment in which she made her home. Kotori was grateful for everything her mother had done for her, and the castle itself – luxurious, stunning, with an amazing interior.

Yet part of her felt like she lacked something in her life. She had plenty of wealth, she had a loving mother, she had a comfortable home in the castle and she had her passion for designing and sewing outfits – what more could she want? What more could she possibly ask for, when people were starving on the streets in some of the poorer parts of the kingdom? Every time Kotori felt unsatisfied with her own life, she forced herself to think of the less fortunate. The orphans, the homeless people living on the streets, forced to beg for whatever little sustenance they can get.

Kotori knew her miseries would never equate to that, so she kept her mouth shut.

She watched as a pretty bird landed on the branch of the tree directly next to her window, and she sighed softly, watching it flutter its wings and rest on the branch.

Suddenly, the door behind her opened and she turned around, seeing Hanayo standing nervously in the doorframe. “O-Oh!” Hanayo’s eyes widened as if just realising something. She bowed immediately. “I am sorry! I-I should have knocked, I’m-”

Kotori smiled. “Shh, it’s okay, Hanayo. Look, come over here.”

Hanayo hesitantly approached Kotori, who diverted her attention to the bird perched on the branch outside. “Look. Isn’t it a pretty bird?”

Hanayo’s eyes widened. “Pretty…”

Kotori giggled. “Shall we open the window and hear its pretty song?”

Hanayo nodded and reached to open the window, lifting up the glass. The sound of the bird’s beautiful melody flooded the room and Kotori closed her eyes and gave a soft hum of contentment. Hanayo gazed at the princess, wondering what went on in her mind, but knowing it was rude of her to ask.

“I envy birds,” Kotori said suddenly, and Hanayo jumped at the sudden speech from the caramel-haired girl. “They are always so free. They can fly wherever they want, and they can look down on the world without having a single care. Birds do not have wars, birds do not have poverty, no war, no suffering. They just fly, and they fly wherever their heart carries them. That is why I envy birds.”

Hanayo hesitated a few moments, then bowed her head in agreement. “I agree, m-my lady.” She couldn’t help the slight stutter in her speech, but Kotori paid no heed to it. “I have always loved birds, but I love the stars even more.”

“The stars?”

“Yes.” Hanayo smiled, a soft, delicate smile that could only remind Kotori of a dainty flower. “In my childhood, I used to spend a lot of time at my friend Rin’s house, and at night we would lie under the stars and look out for any that twinkled brighter than others. We would find the special stars and whoever found a special star first got a point. We kept score for many years, but the game was never finished. It ended on a tie.”

“Where is Rin now?” Kotori asked, keeping her tone soft in case it was a sensitive subject for the olive-haired girl.

“I do not know. We were separated a few years ago, and I have not found her since. I do not believe she is even in this kingdom anymore – but I am content the way I am now. I would like to find Rin again more than anything, but I am happy being the Princess’s handmaiden and working for the Minami kingdom. I miss Rin and I would give up anything to find her again, but…”

Hanayo’s voice trailed off and Kotori gave another soft hum. “That is very sad. I had a childhood friend as well. Her name was Kousaka Honoka, but once the feud between the Minamis and Sonodas turned violent, her family fled the kingdom. They did not want to be caught in the conflict, as Honoka’s family was very close to both the Minami house and the Sonoda house. I have not seen her since her departure, and I would do anything to see her again.”

“I am surprised that…that you have been through the same thing as me,” Hanayo said. “After all, you are the princess. It still feels like a dream, me working as your personal handmaiden.”

Kotori smiled. “You’re not dreaming, Hanayo.”

Hanayo closed her eyes and nodded, and Kotori spoke again.

“And I would not trade you for any other handmaiden in the world.”

~-~

Sonoda Umi was under pressure.

It was to be expected; she was the heir to the throne of the Sonoda house and kingdom, and the only child of the king and queen – she had been awaiting the day she was crowned since she was a kid, because she knew it had to be her. She had no older or even younger siblings who could even possibly take the crown away from her, so it was all in her hands. And, to be honest, she didn’t even think she’d make a very good ruler.

Sure, like all Sonodas, Umi craved control – power over an entire kingdom was something many people working under the Sonodas longed for, and the Sonoda house had long been known for their power-hungry ambitions. But the kind of power where people’s lives were placed in her hands and she was expected to be able to handle them and take responsibility for them; it wasn’t the kind of thing she saw herself being capable of doing.

And yet, here she stood, waiting to meet her future queen.

Her father had arranged the marriage, of course – all she knew was that she was to be wed to the Nishikino daughter, whose name was Maki. Apparently she had red hair and was good at medicine, but that was all the information that was disclosed to the Sonoda heir. She was to have a brief meeting with her today, and that would be the last time she saw Miss Nishikino before their wedding.

Her life was moving at a faster pace than expected. She had, of course, never expected to have a choice in who she was to marry. She knew she’d be given someone and that was it. The Nishikino girl would prove no other worth to her other than parading around with her in town and doing the typical ‘wifely’ chores.

Other than that, all they really had to do together was share a bed at night. Umi had no bad intentions with the bed-sharing, other than the fact that their wedding night was the night they would be expected to consummate their marriage; Umi still hadn’t figured out how she was going to bypass those laws, or if she’d have to engage in such intimate acts with someone she hardly knew.

It was that or be disowned, she supposed, and she knew which one she’d rather go for. Besides, who knew? Maybe this Nishikino Maki was a beautiful, nice girl who Umi could fall for in the future…

“We have brought Nishikino Maki here, alongside her father – shall we allow them in?”

Umi was stood behind her father in his study, which was sort of like a smaller version of the library with all of her father’s work on a wooden desk, with a window displaying the beautiful view of the castle grounds. She had her hands behind her back, using the polite stance she had practiced countless times with her mother prior to the meeting. Her mother wasn’t able to join them, but she knew that if she did, she’d already have glared at Umi multiple times and the Nishikinos hadn’t even entered the study.

When they did, it was the first time Umi laid eyes upon her future wife. She had fiery red hair tied up in an elegant bun that didn’t suit the girl at all, and judging from the sour expression on her face, she knew that fact very well. She wore a simple red dress, nothing fancy but still showing off her wealth to the world through expensive fabrics and materials. Umi couldn’t judge the girl, though; she must have been forced into that dress by her parents.

She ticked _pretty_ off the list in her mind, because Nishikino Maki certainly was rather stunning. But it wasn’t the type of stunning that sent shivers down Umi’s spine or made her want to get closer to the other girl. It was just a simple appreciation of her beauty.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” the redhead’s father said, bowing. “This is Nishikino Maki, my daughter. She will be turning sixteen in a few weeks’ time.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Maki said, bowing politely like her father, and Umi noted that the girl’s voice was rather unique – deeper than average and had an edge to it that Umi couldn’t quite describe.

“Welcome, welcome,” Umi’s father said, and nodded in appreciation at their polite gestures. He then turned to Umi and stared expectantly.

Umi bowed towards Maki and her father. “My name is Sonoda Umi, heir to the Sonoda throne. Pleased to meet you.” She straightened her back and regarded Maki with her softest expression, which, admittedly, wasn’t very soft. “I have just recently turned seventeen.”

“Now that introductions are out of the way, let us discuss the wedding plans,” Umi’s father said, bringing out a piece of paper containing all the details of his daughter’s wedding and sitting on his desk chair. “The wedding will be held the night after Miss Nishikino’s sixteenth birthday, and the ceremony will not take up too long, hopefully. To keep tradition, my daughter will be wearing a suit and Miss Nishikino will be expected to wear a bride’s dress.”

Umi felt slightly sorry for the redhead, whose cheeks now matched her hair at the realisation that she’d be the only one in a bride’s dress. It was tradition, however, in a marriage between two females, that the one with higher rank was to wear the suit and the other was to wear the dress. Umi did not know why they couldn’t both wear suits or both wear dresses (although Umi did not care much at all for dresses and preferred to stay away from them as much as possible) but there was no way she could argue against tradition.

“And of course, after the ceremony the couple are expected to consummate their marriage. After that, there is no easy way out of the marriage, but it will give them access to all the privileges a married couple has.”

Umi gulped. She knew the bare basics of what happened during the consummation of marriage, but she still didn’t know it all. Having been raised as a royal, she’d been taught that the act of intercourse was nothing more than a way of finalising the decision to marry and, in a marriage between a man and a woman, a way of producing children; she didn’t believe it had any other meaning, yet the thought of doing it with the redhead standing across from her (and aggressively avoiding eye contact) seemed…unrealistic.

She didn’t want to do it.

Her father ran through more rules, rules Umi already knew but he was verifying with Maki, and Umi remained unmoving, stationary in her position because she knew the slightest movement symbolised a lack of respect. The rules of etiquette her mother had taught her tended to get a little overzealous, but Umi had learned well, so she followed the rules nicely. Like the obedient daughter her mother wanted her to be, she did everything she was told and displayed herself as a courteous young heir, worthy of the Sonoda throne.

After receiving confirmation from the redhead that she understood, Umi’s father stood back up and nodded at the Nishikinos. “Umi, Miss Nishikino, may the two of you leave for a moment whilst Sir Nishikino and I discuss what we are doing during the ceremony? Miss Nishikino, I am sure my daughter will be honoured to show you around the castle grounds. After all, this will be your home in due time.”

Maki nodded, and turned around, heading towards the door. Umi followed behind her and wondered if there was anything she could do to prevent the situation from being awkward; knowing it was undoubtedly going to be the most awkward experience of her life, she proceeded with reluctance, closing the door behind her and leaving the two men to discuss.

Umi led Maki to the grounds, and the pair walked in silence, Maki’s gaze resting on the portraits on the walls and Umi’s light brown eyes stared straight onwards, down the familiar corridors to the grounds entrance.

“The castle is very beautiful,” she heard from behind her, and turned to face the red-haired girl, who was taking in the scenery around her.

“People often say that when they come to visit,” Umi responded. “Having lived here all my life, the scenery is rather familiar to me, but it looks especially beautiful in summer.”

Maki nodded. “But it is spring, and the birds have lovely melodies, would you agree?”

“Yes,” Umi said. “My quarters have a window next to a tree with a nest of birds on, and they like to sing for me in the mornings. Their melody starts around the time I wake up, so every morning is quite pleasant.”

They remained in silence, listening to the birds’ songs, and then Umi led Maki on towards the stables, where the majestic royal horses were grazing from their food bowls. Umi’s horse had a sleek black coat and a royal blue saddle attached, and her father’s had a snowy white coat and brown saddle.

“What is its name?” Maki asked, reaching out to stroke Umi’s horse.

“Wildstar,” Umi replied.

“That’s an odd name for a royal horse,” Maki pointed out, and Umi sighed. She was often told that in regards to her horse, but the name Wildstar just seemed to fit it. When she had first called it by that name, the horse had offered her a nuzzle against the neck, and Umi had taken it as encouragement to keep on calling the white horse by that name.

“I have been told that a lot, but she likes this name,” Umi said, stroking the horse’s mane. “We have been together many years. She is a loyal horse indeed.”

They stayed in the stables for a while until one of the servants who was in charge of cleaning it out approached them and the two girls decided to leave him in peace, and moved on in their tour of the castle grounds. A large fountain sat, surrounded by a maze of flowers of all kinds of colours, in flowerbeds forming a pleasant pattern around the fountain.

“Everything in these grounds is so neat,” Maki observed, and Umi nodded.

“My father likes things to be kept neat, especially when it comes to the grass and flowers outside. That’s why we have so many servants working outside every day, trying to keep everything looking neat and tidy. If my father notices any discrepancies between the way the grounds normally are and how it is when he examines them, he gets angered.”

Maki knew the king had a short temper. She had seen it times before, when people were sent to be executed for crimes that would only cost perhaps a fine in a different kingdom. The Sonoda kingdom was not all about nobility and courtesy, it was quite violent in its ways.

Maybe it was the Yazawas putting an influence on the kingdom, or maybe the Sonoda house had always been this way.

The rest of the tour was brief and soon they returned to Umi’s father’s office, and the black-haired girl knocked on the door, three times as usual, before entering after receiving the signal from inside. The king and Maki’s father were standing up, as if ready to leave, and Umi couldn’t help but notice the tension in the air between them.

“Maki, we will be going now,” Maki’s father said, beginning to walk out of the room.

“Ah-” Maki offered Umi an awkward wave as she was pulled away from the room by her father. She had expected the servants to come and show them out, but her father seemed riled up for some reason. Perhaps the two men had argued over something, or disagreed on something with the ceremony. She did not have time to ponder, however, as they were on their way out of the castle and into a carriage to begin the journey home.

Umi, on the other hand, remained in front of her father. His eyes scrutinized her, looking over for any sign of emotion, before he sighed in defeat.

“How was she, then?”

“Maki?” Umi felt stupid for questioning it.

“Who else would I be talking about?”

“My apologies.” Umi bowed her head. “We got along rather well, Father. I would not be against marrying her.” _Not that I have a choice anyway._ But she did consider Maki to be a fair option for a wife, as they hadn’t exactly not gotten along; they were just a little awkward around each other, and Umi really couldn’t see any romantic potential in the redhead, but it really wasn’t her place to complain.

“Good.” Her father waved his hand dismissively and Umi departed, heading back to her quarters. She wanted to hear the bird’s song that always came around this time. The birds outside her window loved to sing, chirping happy melodies to cheer the black-haired girl up. She’d always sit by the window and listen.

She pictured in her mind listening to the bird’s song with Maki. It seemed like it would be rather nice; she wouldn’t have to spend all her time alone, yet sharing a bed with someone she hardly knew…and she wasn’t even going to mention what would happen on her wedding night – she just wasn’t sure about it. But there was no room for uncertainty in the Sonoda house, because all of the decisions were made for her by her father, who showed no signs of ever even possibly letting Umi marry whoever she wanted. She didn’t even know anyone she would want to marry in the first place. Maki was her best bet at this point in time.

Unless fate had a different plan, then Umi would be content spending the rest of her life alongside the redhead named Nishikino Maki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoooo umimaki meeting :')  
> tbh i kinda wanna make this story umimaki bc i love that ship so much but ik its a rarepair and people will probably prefer kotoumi...idk if u have opinions lemme know what u think


	3. Mafia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin runs into trouble at Otonokizaka Kingdom, and Eli retreats to Nozomi's house for a relaxing spiritual session.

It was not uncommon to see cloaked, hooded figures wandering around at night in any kingdom; and upon seeing them, the majority of people steered clear straight away. In the kingdom of Otonokizaka, which was the kingdom midway between the rivalling Minami and Sonoda kingdoms, there was a well established mafia hidden within the kingdom. Nobody really knew what business the mafia had in Otonokizaka that made them wander around cloaked at night, but all they knew was that it was in their best interest to avoid the mafia. At all costs. So that was what the people did, and for the most part, the mafia left regular civilians alone - it was just specific targets they were given by their leader and the other criminal work they had to do, whether it was illegal transactions or things like loan sharking or drug trafficking. However you looked at it, the Otonokizaka mafia was not a force to be reckoned with.

But this particular night of all, the mafia seemed to be very prominently situated in town. Civilians would lower their heads and move past as quickly as possible, and anyone who made eye contact with one of the mafia members got threats thrown at them until they ran off in fear. Soon the streets were almost empty, and the hooded girl who was in charge of the attack smirked to herself. She'd been waiting quite a few months to get this mission completed, and it was about damn time someone dealt justice to this specific businessman;  _he hardly deserves to call himself that,_ she thought. The man wasn't a professional businessman as much as he was a lying fraud, who'd already pulled several people into his dodgy business. It was hypocritical of the mafia to take control of this issue, considering loan sharks were a pretty big part of the organisation, but when others threatened their power, it meant they were on the death list.

And if there was anything Rin Hoshizora loved in this world, it was bringing justice to the self-proclaimed businessmen who exploited everyone they could.

"We'll make our way towards his headquarters," she commanded, and the other hooded figures turned to listen to her orders. "He'll undoubtedly have it heavily guarded after that spy let it slip that the mafia's planning an attack on him, so we're gonna need to play an offensive game here. We'll need defensive and offensive squads staying behind to fight off the guards while myself and my squad make our way into the building. We'll take down anyone in our path and find our way to his office. Your mission is to not let anyone sneak up behind us, because we're focusing on being stealthy ourselves, and only defending ourselves when necessary. For the most part, we'll be hidden. Anyone who leaves us behind or surrenders themselves can consider themselves dead, and trust me, I can make it happen. Any questions?"

There weren't any questions, as Rin guessed. Nobody really questioned her anyway; she had made her plan crystal clear the day prior and this was just an overview and summary of the full-length plan. There was a formation, and everyone had been assigned to squads. She sent them all to assemble and stood on the rooftop of a building, staring out onto the street as the people assembled.

"Hoshizora," she heard from next to her, and turned to see a man higher in rank than her, meaning she was forced to give him the mafia's salute, to which he nodded in response. "I trust I can leave the mission in your hands."

Rin smirked. "You can trust me with this. I've been waiting to take care of this asshole for a while now."

"Then I'll be off. I have a smaller mission to deal with. Good luck, Hoshizora. Don't let us down."

Rin nodded and turned, commanding all the defensive and offensive squads to get into their positions, and they headed towards the building whilst Rin's squad stayed behind. Her squad consisted of about five other people who she'd handpicked as the stealthiest people in the entire mafia alongside her. It was a solid team that would have a low chance of failing, and Rin was liking the way the odds looked, definitely swaying in her favour against this loan shark.

"This man has a history of putting people in debt," Rin explained as they watched the squads go ahead. "It's about time we ended that history and show him who's in charge in Otonokizaka." She turned to her team and smiled. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Her team nodded, and after a few minutes of waiting around, they heard the first signs of conflict over at the building, symbolising that they needed to start moving towards the headquarters so that by the time they reached there, the people at the building would be in full swing of a fight, and it would be easier for the smaller sub-group to slip in through some kind of entrance and find the owner of the business's office quickly and efficiently, enter the office and capture the man. If things went well, they'd keep him hostage, force him to get his customers out of debt, shutting his business down completely and leaving him to try and make a different way in life. Otherwise, if they were strapped for time and couldn't manage to capture him, killing him would be the second choice. Although Rin really wanted to just knife him in the stomach and have done with it, if they were to capture him, they'd have access to a lot of money. Either way, they'd shut his business down and the mafia would be in charge of the kingdom again.

Otonokizaka Kingdom was weak. It used to be one of the strongest standing kingdoms, but after a war involving Otonokizaka, they had severe damage dealt to them and were weakened significantly, leaving them vulnerable and unprotected. It was easy for the mafia to navigate because the security in Otonokizaka had gone to absolute shit, and everybody within the kingdom knew that.

It certainly was a downgrade from the Minami kingdom, and Rin wished for nothing more than to return there.

But how would the Minami kingdom let a mafia member in? As far as Rin knew, she'd never be able to return, and who knew where Hanayo was now? Rin fully believed that her childhood friend was alive, but it was just a matter of what she was doing with her life. Every time Rin imagined the sweet olive-haired girl watching the crimes Rin committed, her heart broke ever so slightly. Because Hanayo would never approve of what Rin was doing - no, not Hanayo, she was positively an angel, and if Rin could have that angel back in her life she would give up the mafia in a heartbeat. But Rin had never been capable of making good decisions, and now she paid the price, having to commit crimes to keep herself on her feet, and earning an unholy amount of money whilst doing so. But the money was dirty money, and Rin regretted having it. She'd usually blow her money from a mission right off the bat because she hated looking at it, hated looking at the pouch of coins that could feed a starving family for months, all because she'd assassinated some rich guy or she'd hijacked a business.

Sins were supposed to be punished, not rewarded, and yet Rin found herself coming back for the rewards every time.

She slipped through the kingdom, taking shortcuts through alleyways and leading her team, charging towards the building; there wasn't really a point in administering stealth when it wasn't needed. When they reached the alleyway closest to the building, they peered out and saw the fighting taking place. Rin's eyes scoured over the scene, searching for any openings until she found a back window that was open. She pointed towards it and her teammates knew what to do. Camouflaged by the night, they ran towards the window, the guards not noticing, being too pre-occupied with fighting the other mafia members off.

_They're fighting a losing battle, it would seem,_ Rin smirked as she watched one of the guards fall to the ground, clutching a knife that was firmly planted in his chest. The mafia played dirty and they didn't try to hide it - what was the point of playing fair, anyway? They had a job to do and they needed to do it. That was it.

Rin didn't know when she became so heartless. Probably along the way when she lost Hanayo, and darkness swelled up in her heart and took her over. Maybe she just let it happen; she couldn't remember ever resisting against her dark side. The mafia helped her channel this inner darkness, and keep it under control - there was one thing she could be grateful to the mafia for. Other than the money, but... she'd already expressed her stance on her wages. Too much dirty money. She didn't have a need for the excess coins, so she blew them on drinks or whatever shit she wanted. She'd treat her teammates to drinks at an inn for the night, and then she'd wake up in bed with a stranger and a killer bedhead and a splitting headache and hangover, and she'd get dressed as quickly as possible, smooth down her hair with water or something and run out, not even getting a good look at the stranger's face.

That was one of the things she didn't want Hanayo to see either. Rin when she was drunk was aggressive and violent, so unlike her normal demeanour that it was terrifying.

The back window of the building was open, and there was a man inside ducking behind what appeared to be a houseplant. When he saw the figures entering his office, he tried to jump to press an alarm, but Rin was faster than him - she slid her knife around his shoulder and slit his throat in one clean swipe, watching as the man fell to the ground.  _Ah, there it is._ Every time they had a mission, Rin always made one mistake and one mistake only. She was lucky her mistake happened so early on - she shouldn't have killed the man. He might have known where the owner of the business was.

"Sorry. That was rash of me." Rin unlocked the office door. "But we don't have time to stick around. Let's go."

The building was larger than she expected, hallways stretching out pretty far with doors on either side. It had pretty much been evacuated by the people working inside, but Rin knew that they wouldn't have taken the owner of the business anywhere - after all, as far as they were aware, the mafia hadn't actually infiltrated the building yet, they were merely fighting to get through the front entrance. To anyone else, it'd seem like a poorly planned out mission, but Rin's team was the ace up the mafia's sleeve, and she was almost ready to pull it.

She just needed to find the bastard first.

"We're close. I know it."

Rin nodded in confirmation of what someone else on her team said, and they made their way through the hallways, stopping when they heard voices. They were all pretty much masterminds in eavesdropping, so they all listened out to pick up on words.

_"Mafia- might get in- watch out-"_

_"Like hell- get me-"_

Rin picked up on the general gist of the conversation, and deduced that one of the men speaking was their target. But who was the other guy?

Rin pointed at two of the team members, the weakest ones, in her opinion. "You two, capture the man speaking to our guy. Us three will capture the owner."

They nodded and proceeded, the voices becoming louder as they progressed, and then-

"Put your hands up."

Rin froze. She turned around.

_Fuck._

* * *

Eli held the piece of paper in her right hand, glancing down occasionally to make sure she was on the right track.

_“I hope you do pay her a visit, Eli! She says she’s seen you on the training grounds and apparently she thinks your skill is very admirable.”_

_“Is that so?”_

_“Yep. Dare I say, she seems rather smitten with you.”_

To be completely honest, Eli didn't know what to expect with this Toujou girl. She was a spiritual believer, and Eli had already stressed to other people that she didn't believe in spirits and fortunes and all that superstitious stuff. But Seki had seemed really eager for Eli to try visiting this Nozomi girl, and Eli was always a sucker for bright, enthusiastic eyes, or puppy dog eyes, as they sometimes called it. So she'd asked Seki for the address a few days after the attack, and the girl had obliged happily, writing the details down on a piece of paper and handing it to Eli, winking before she turned and left.

Eli didn't know what to say when Seki did stuff like that, winking and saying that the Toujou girl was 'smitten' with her. Eli didn't even know the girl, for crying out loud; how was she supposed to interact with her knowing that she'd observed her on the training grounds and fed back her opinion to Seki? How did she and Seki even know each other? Eli had never known that Seki was into spiritual stuff, but everyone came with surprises, she supposed.

She wondered what Nozomi's surprise was.

The house she lived in was very quaint and pretty, with a beautiful exterior and probably an equally stunning interior. There was a cobblestone path leading up to the front door, and Eli knocked three times politely on the wooden door.

"Coming!"

The girl's voice sounded... pretty unique, actually. It had an edge to it that Eli liked.  _Wait, why am I being so creepy all of a sudden?_

The door opened and Eli was greeted with the sight of a beautiful girl, with long dark purple hair in two low twin-tails, blue-green eyes that almost mixed together to make turquoise, but still maintained some sense of standing alone as two colours, and the smoothest skin that Eli had ever seen on another person. She wore a simple dress, nothing special, but she somehow managed to make it look flawless.

_If I keep these thoughts up, I'll end up being the smitten one._

"Uh, hi," Eli said awkwardly. "I'm Ayase Eli. I'm the kingdom's best knight-"  _way to sound conceited, Eli,_ "-and I was recommended to come here by a friend who thought I was a bit stressed and needed a break for a while."

"Yes, Seki informed me that she'd recommended it to you," Nozomi replied, and Eli let out a quiet sigh at hearing the girl's voice again - it really was unique, and beautiful. "I'm a big fan of yours, so I look forward to treating you today. I'm a little nervous, but... I'll do my best."

_Nervous_ _?_ Eli felt her face flush slightly.  _Nozomi_ was nervous? Eli practically felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest.

"Come on in then, Eli-chi." Nozomi paused, startled at herself. "U-Um, is it okay if I call you that? I'm sorry, I have a habit of..."

"It's fine." Eli spoke quickly, with an urgency to her voice that she didn't mean to sound so prominent. But the purple-haired girl giving her a nickname sounded like the best thing ever at that moment, and the way she said it was adorable -  _Eli-chi_. It had a ring to it, but only really when Nozomi said it.

Nozomi set up some spiritual-looking things in a room that was clearly built for the purpose of her work, a room with the aroma of candle wax and scented cushions, and Eli sat herself awkwardly on the sofa, looking around at all the strange artefacts in the room. There were elaborately designed masks, artefacts that looked really historical, and candles all around the room. Eli wondered how Nozomi got her hands on so many expensive looking artefacts, but deduced that she must be directly related to the head of the Toujou house in order to have such luxuries handed to her.

"Okay, so we'll start just by having you relax. Meditation is good for the soul. I'll do it with you so it's not so awkward." Nozomi sat cross-legged on the floor, the soles of her feet touching. "Follow my lead, Eli-chi."

Blushing, Eli moved to sit on the floor and sat in the same position as Nozomi. Nozomi sat so naturally and comfortably, but having the soles of her feet pressed against each other was pretty uncomfortable for Eli. She managed it, anyway, trying to conceal her discomfort, but the cheeky smile on Nozomi's face probably meant that she could easily tell how uncomfortable the blonde knight was.

"It is uncomfortable at first, but after doing it for so many years it's natural for me to sit like this."

"I don't think I'll be able to do this for years."

"You're lucky you're not a Toujou. We have to. Now, close your eyes and breathe."

Nozomi guided her through some strange breathing exercises, and Eli followed her lead, feeling progressively lighter as she inhaled and exhaled.  _Is this what it feels like to have the weight of pressure lifted off your shoulders?_ It didn't get rid of the pressure, but it minimized how much she felt the pressure.

After meditation, Nozomi smiled. "You did well, Eli-chi. Now-"

There was a knock at the door, and Nozomi looked startled. "Oh, I wasn't expecting anyone-"

" _Open up by order of the Queen._ "

Nozomi got to her feet just as quickly as Eli did, and the two girls hurried to the front door, opening it and revealing one of the Queen's messengers. Eli recognised him, and he looked thankful when he saw her.

"The Queen told me to urgently call you back."

"Why? What's happened?"

The man gulped.

"There was a mafia attack in Otonokizaka, and we've managed to capture them. Please report back to the castle immediately for further orders."

Eli's eyes widened.  _The mafia_?

Well, she knew two things for sure - her break was ruined and things were about to get very interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooh damn
> 
> well you know how i tagged this with historical inaccuracy? the only research i did for this chapter was googling what a mafia meant and what kind of things they did. that's it. otherwise my history knowledge has completely blown out the window because i need a plot and i need more badass rin in my life so here we go. mafia rin. i have dreamed of this day. thank you very much.


	4. Childhood Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and Hanayo are reunited during Rin's capture. Minami-centered chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna update my Mikayuu fanfic today but I didn't have any inspiration and it's raining like hell outside and I just suddenly felt inspired for Battleship so here we are :)

The cat-girl struggled. It was obvious to the guards at first that she'd be a fighter, the way she'd looked so focused as she headed to assassinate the company's head, and when they captured her and her team, she'd fought against them, biting and kicking and scratching, too caught up in her own failure to try and apply some actual self-defense tactics against them. Therefore, they captured her, and after a fairly long journey from Otonokizaka all the way to the Minami kingdom, they were to have the girl delivered to the Queen and her fate would be decided for attempted murder and an amount of other crimes she'd undoubtedly committed. It wasn't that the Minami authorities were in charge of Otonokizaka - no, they were merely there to capture the _mafia_ , but they'd ended up capturing them during a mission, which was even better. All they needed now was information from the girl and her team.

"What is your name?"

She remained silent.

"It's in your best interest to answer us, mafia girl," one of the guards said, pointing a sword to Rin's head, and she looked up with a deadpan expression.

"Rin."

"Rin what?"

"Hoshizora."

The guard wrote something down on a piece of paper in blue ink, and Rin guessed it was her name. She let out a sigh, quiet enough so that the guards didn't hear and whack her for attitude, but loud enough so that she could release the sigh she'd been holding for a long time. She was on her way to the Minami kingdom, the very kingdom she'd left years prior, the very kingdom in which her childhood friend, Hanayo, probably still resided - _if we ever were to meet again, it wasn't supposed to be like this._ It was never supposed to be like this.

Rin hadn't intended to be captured. Her plan was to kill the guy who ran the business and make a swift escape back to HQ, and now she'd have to face all the questions and the trial and either years in prison, the rest of her life in prison or the death sentence.

She felt the pocket of her cloak and her finger brushed over the slight bump where she kept her pill. It was a pill strong enough to kill her in thirty seconds, and was to be used in the case of capture. If she saw the need to, that was her final option, but for now she was going to follow the orders of the guards (as reluctant as she was to do so) and see what fate she was assigned. If she saw Hanayo along the way, she'd avert her gaze; it was for the best that her sweet childhood friend didn't have to face the reality of the person she had become. Because Rin was no longer the eccentric, obnoxious girl who loved the stars and the night and would lie under the night sky with Hanayo and point out the brightest ones - she had become a filthy criminal, and Hanayo deserved better. Much better.

So Rin pushed the feelings she held for the girl aside and told herself it was for the best. She cared for Hanayo, and didn't want to see her hurt; being around Rin was toxic, and she knew she'd end up hurting the other somehow. Besides, it was unlikely they'd ever meet again, especially if Rin had never been captured. The only way they'd have stayed together was if...

"Hoshizora."

She looked up.

"Get out the carriage."

Obeying, Rin stepped out of the carriage and was blinded by the beauty of a large, elegant palace, home to the Minamis, the royals, and their handmaidens and servants. It was the most beautiful building Rin had ever laid eyes upon, as she'd only ever seen the palace from afar - up close, she could see all the embroidered patterns and the gargoyles and the Latin lettering spaced out across the gate and the double-doors leading into the grand palace. _Why take a dirty criminal here?_ Rin wondered, looking down at the mud-covered shoes and frowning.

"Take off the cloak and shoes first," one of the guards ordered, and Rin figured that was the answer to her questions. They were going to take her straight to the Queen, probably accompanied by the princess and her handmaiden, as well as various servants, and they wanted her to be as clean as she could be. She did as she was told, making sure to transfer the pill to between the fabric of her bottoms and her hip, keeping it secure as she handed over her cloak and shoes to the guard, who then proceeded to take it into the carriage. She turned to face the intimidating double-doors staring at her, and the gargoyles whose eyes seemed to be fixated on her, judging her, hating her. This was the palace she'd receive her judgment in, and she didn't know how merciful the queen would be with a mafia member. A mafia member caught in the act of attempted murder, no less; it wasn't looking good for Rin.

The guards led her in and the doors were opened from the inside, revealing servants who invited them all into the castle. Rin felt her cold feet transfer onto a warm carpet within the castle, and saw paintings adorning the walls, the elegant interior of the palace drawing her eyes to every nook and cranny of the mere entrance hall.

The doors to the throne room opened and Rin looked up. The Queen was sitting there, with a blonde-haired girl on one side and the princess on the other - no sign of a handmaiden, which was odd to Rin. She walked forward and, of course, bowed before the Queen, kneeling down, head bowed low, ginger hair falling in front of her face and covering her facial features. She heard from her right side footsteps pattering towards them, and a shrill cry of, "I-I'm sorry I'm late!"

Rin looked up at the new arrival. Then paused.

Blink. _What?_

The olive-haired handmaiden looked at Rin, pausing as well.

Blink. _W-What?_

The two looked at each other, eyes slowly widening as they recognised the faces and the hair. Hanayo began to shudder as her eyes welled up with tears, and with a single cry of, "Rin!", ran towards the ginger girl and enveloped her in a warm embrace, tears streaming from her face despite the circumstances.

"K-Kayo..." Rin felt a pang of guilt when her arms instinctively wrapped around the girl as well. _No. This wasn't supposed to-_

"Hanayo?" the blonde girl asked, frowning. "W-Why..."

"H-Hanayo, why are you-?" The princess's eyes were wide, surprised, and the Queen began to look furious.

"What is the meaning of this? Why are you hugging a _criminal_?"

Hanayo pulled away from Rin at the sound of the word 'criminal'. Her eyes batted in confusion, and Rin looked down in shame. "C-Criminal? Rin isn't...a..." She looked back at Rin, Rin's golden eyes meeting Hanayo's purple, and the latter's eyes widened further as she came to the realization.

"Rin...you're in the mafia?"

Rin diverted her gaze, looking away shamefully and closing her eyes. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to look Hanayo in the eye and be met with the expression of disappointment and anger and sadness and _shame_ at her, especially not when the person bearing that expression was the childhood friend she cared so deeply for. She didn't want to be here, she didn't know why Hanayo was there, why she was the princess's handmaiden, but all she knew was that _she didn't want to be here_. Even though she was by Hanayo's side, it was in the way she least wanted to be by her side, as a traitor, a murderer, a criminal who needed to be put on death trial.

Rin had never felt the urge to die until this moment.

Because there really was no use to her life, was there? She was a criminal; sure, she was a strong asset to the mafia, but the mafia was evil. The mafia of Otonokizaka was evil and deranged and messed up and Rin didn't want to be a part of it in the first place. She regretted it. She regretted ever doing it, ever leaving Hanayo behind, ever making the decision to join...

What she didn't expect was Hanayo's arms to wrap around her once more.

" _Rin_."

"K-Kayo, you can't..."

"Handmaiden."

Hanayo jumped and pulled away from Rin, looking towards the Queen, whose eyes bore the fury rarely shown to anyone outside of criminals. Hanayo flinched, moving back slightly, preparing for the worst.

"I could charge you with treason this very minute, you know that?" she said, trying to keep her voice calm. "You're lucky my daughter has taken a shine to you and would undoubtedly beg for your return if I had you executed, and _believe me_ do I want to sentence you to death alongside your little criminal friend here - but mark my words, I will not stand for this in the slightest. One more _peep_ from you and I'll have your head on a spike before you can even scream for your mafia friend. As for you..." She turned to Rin, regarding her with a cold, harsh expression of a queen about to sentence someone to death, "you're going on the death sentence. For both murder, attempted murder, and being part of the mafia we are trying to stop. Hoshizora Rin, I charge you-"

" _Please,_ no!" Hanayo screamed out. "Y-You can't..."

"It's fine, Kayo." Rin stood up. "I deserve it, anyway."

" _Rin_!"

"Good, good." The Queen signaled to the guards to have Rin taken away.

_"NO!"_

Rin smiled sadly at her childhood friend as the guards dragged her away, bare feet sliding against the floor of the throne room, the ferocious gaze of the queen sending daggers into her flesh and the distraught look on Hanayo's face tugging at her heartstrings. The blonde knight had her hand clenched around the handle of her sword and looked ready to attack Rin if she made any sudden moves, and the princess was holding her hands to her heart and looking rather astonished. The sight of the room was enough to make anyone shudder once they realized the context - two childhood friends, separated by the iron fist of the Queen as the criminal was sent to serve her death sentence and the handmaiden was forced back into serving the very woman who had ordered the sentence's child.

Rin fought back tears as she laid eyes upon Hanayo for the final time before she was being dragged out of the castle, shoved back in the carriage and they began to drive, drive to the place Rin would be imprisoned until the Queen saw fit to have her executed.

Meanwhile, back in the throne room, Kotori had run over to the small handmaiden, who now knelt in tears on the floor, olive-coloured hair falling in front of her purple eyes to disguise the tears everyone knew was there. Kotori crouched down beside her friend and embraced her loosely, not wanting to invade her space too much, but the smaller girl made no effort to move away as she sobbed onto the ground, and when Kotori saw a teardrop stain the flooring of the throne room, she cursed her mother under her breath for causing such distress to an innocent girl.

"Could we not have found a compromise?" Kotori asked, standing up to face her mother. "We could have had Rin serve us in the castle, as a servant or cook or something; the palace is always in need of more workers, after all."

"That woman was a criminal, and I took care of her. Do not worry about it, my little bird."

Kotori felt the smooth hand of her mother caress her head, and it almost took her back to when she was young, feeling the familiar warmth of that hand on her head after a particularly bad nightmare or when she just couldn't sleep, and the soft lullabies she'd hear from the woman's lips, soothing her to sleep. And all that Kotori could wonder was, _where did my mother go_? This tyrant, this bloodthirsty, ferocious lady was not her mother - it was almost like the Minami kingdom had taken a leaf out of the Sonoda's book in that they executed without a proper trial.

"B-But my handmaiden..."

"She could easily be joining her friend on the death sentence for treason as we speak, but I chose to spare her for your sake. Don't even try to negotiate with me. Now, take your handmaiden and return to your quarters. I'll have a servant call you down when your evening meal is served, so work on some sewing project. Anything to keep you occupied while your little handmaiden weeps like the traitor she is."

Kotori blinked hard to avoid crying, and grabbed Hanayo by the wrist, leading the sobbing girl back up to her quarters with heavy stomps of heels against floor.

When the princess was finally out of earshot, all that remained was the Queen and Eli, who turned to her with a confused expression on her face.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked, and the Queen sighed.

"The pressure from the war is really reaching my head," she admitted, sitting back down on her throne and resting her forehead against her palm. "The Sonodas are rising in strength and power, and the Sonoda heir is due to marry the Nishikino daughter soon. The bonding of the two houses will only make them stronger, and I fear the Yazawas are planning a surprise ambush as revenge for their previous defeat. I have the scouts and guards looking out for Yazawas at every edge of the kingdom, no border is being neglected, and yet this anxiety still plagues me constantly. How could this be...?"

Eli bowed her head in respect. "I understand your concern, Your Majesty, but I seem to have not made my point clear enough." She looked into the Queen's eyes intently. "I will _not_ bring dishonor to this kingdom. I swear on my life I will bring justice to the Yazawas that slaughtered so many of my men and women, and I will bring victory to the Minami house. It is my duty as a knight, and if I do not fulfill it, then I will happily die for my failure."

The Queen nodded. "I am pleased to hear that." She wiped at her eye slightly, and Eli noticed she'd been tearing up. "I apologize for interrupting your break. You may return to whatever you were doing."

Eli's mind traced back to Nozomi, the spiritual girl who had promised to help her relax. She'd been doing pretty well until the messenger had torn the two apart; some part of Eli felt drawn to return to the temple that was Nozomi's home and have another stab at the spiritual activities. Yet she'd never believed in such things until now, and even now, she didn't believe... _maybe I just want to see her again._ Eli flushed as she realized that may have been the reason. She'd felt strangely attracted to the girl, in a way she'd never been attracted to anybody else before, male or female. The Queen appeared to have picked up on her sudden flush and smiled mischievously.

"I apologize if I interrupted a _special_ moment you were sharing," she winked, and Eli flushed even more scarlet.

"N-No, I assure you... that was not the case. I was merely receiving treatment from a Toujou for my stress."

"Ah, the Toujous are renowned for their spiritual talents, especially in relieving stress. I am sure you are in good hands with... let me take a guess, Toujou Nozomi?"

Eli's eyes widened. "H-How-"

"I have heard her speak of you. She admires you quite a lot. I have met her a fair number of times when she visits the castle, and she always goes to watch you practice in the training yard."

Eli must have looked like a tomato, so she quickly thanked the woman and left the palace.

Not really knowing where to go, she called for a nearby carriage and requested them to take her to the forest outskirts, where she'd go on patrol whilst pondering recent events and any possible war strategies she could think of. The kingdom was always in need of strategies and plans to grant them advantages, and the forest held many secrets and was a great place to mull things over.

She put on a cloak as she stepped out of the carriage and pulled the hood up, concealing her face, leaving a few mere blonde curls exposed, and the rest of her unknown to any passer-bys.

One thing Eli loved was going undercover - nobody would know who she was, and she could escape from reality for a while longer, at least.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short chapter, but I wanted to focus on the Rinpana this chapter! Next chapter will revert back to the original POV switches and focus on some Umimaki and Kotopana (i love those rarepairs im sorry but theres actual umimaki next chapter just a warning) As always, feedback and comments in general is highly appreciated ;3 thank you for reading so far and leaving kudos if you have!


	5. Great Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maki prepares for her wedding; meanwhile, Kotori makes plans for a certain cat-like girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the infrequent updating! ^^" i have to say this on every fanfic because my inspiration is shite all the time and only pops up on occasion, so i apologise. hope you enjoy this chapter though! it focuses more on maki's feelings about the arranged marriage and then some action for kotori, rin and pana :D (includes intense rinpana feels)

One day.

One day until her life as a free, unmarried teenage girl was over. One day until she gave her life to the heir to the Sonoda throne, and placed her freedom in her hands. One day until she was rid of her dreams, hopes and happiness.

Maki Nishikino did not want to get married.

The night prior, she had woken in her bed, erratic breaths and sweat causing red hair to stick against her forehead. A nightmare had struck her that night, one where she was married to Umi as she had been planned to. The wedding went perfectly, but on the night of their wedding, panic struck her, and she lashed out at the black-haired girl, nails clawing down her face as she cried out in fear. Time seemed to skip in her dream, and she saw herself burned at the stake, then hanged, then beheaded, and she watched as she went through every execution method possible and she felt frozen, rigid, until she woke, breathing heavily, heart thumping under her chest as she pondered on the severity of what she did in the dream. And how easy would it be to mess up? To say one word out of line, make a single remark that causes her downfall.

No, it wasn't just that Maki didn't _want_ to be married to the heir - she was _afraid_ to marry her.

That day she had tried to embrace the final day of freedom she was given. She took a carriage up to the farm and worked as usual, not telling the farmer's wife that she wouldn't be able to visit again. The couple at the farm, they were prime examples of good human beings left in this deranged world. The farmer's wife, whom Maki still had not received the name of, was a plump blonde woman who always wore lovely red dresses, and her husband, the farmer, was a sickly man, but kind-hearted to the core. They gave her medicinal plants in return for her service on the farm, and she had very much enjoyed the sessions she spent there. There was something so tranquil about spending time on a farm and just working, mind absorbed in what she was doing, blocking out the rest of her issues. But as soon as the creaky gates shut behind her and she was back on the road heading into a carriage for a lift back to the Nishikino house, reality returned to her, and it always hit her hard, blinding her, filling her thoughts with panic.

Time seemed to pass slower when she was anticipating something, and she didn't know whether it was good or bad. She wanted to embrace her freedom longer, to be an unmarried girl for longer, but the slower the time passed, the more time she felt she was stressing for. Maybe it would be better to just sleep until morning came, get married and submit to the life of a 'wife'. She knew she'd have duties to perform for Umi, and the two would have to share a bed, and she'd be forced to move away from the Nishikino house and into the Sonoda castle... but what was the worst that could happen?

She remembered the black-haired girl she'd met in the forest, the one who looked a lot younger than she was. Yazawa Nico. She had suffered a severe wound to her arm, and Maki had fixed it up just as she'd been taught, before being told she had done a 'damn good job' by the girl with red ribbons in her hair. Those words had embedded themselves into her mind and stuck there, because she'd never been praised by anyone other than her father before. It was nice to receive validation from a stranger, but she knew that the words were useless, because that was her first and last mission ever. Yazawa Nico was the only person Maki had and would ever heal after a fight, and Maki was torn on her feelings about that - on the one hand, she was partially grateful, considering she had been a pacifist since childhood and hated the post-battle scenes, people with injuries, corpses, people gone insane from the trauma. The last one wasn't something she'd ever seen, but her father had dealt with a patient who was psychologically damaged after a fight, and ended up having to be put down. There was only so much Nishikino healers could do, and the patient was a threat. He had managed to get hold of a scalpel and wave it around, threatening to cut people's eyes out. Maki was thankful she hadn't witnessed such a thing, and never would.

But on the other hand, she wanted to help people. She had always wanted to be a healer and live up to the Nishikino family name, but she was denied such an opportunity. Her mother was firmly against it - _"we promised the Sonodas our first-born as a spouse for the heir, and that is what you are to be"_ \- and her father went along with what her mother said, although slightly regretful that he was handing his perfectly capable healer daughter off to the Sonodas to just be... what? Married off and then subjected to the life of a housewife, having no say in it herself.

It was cruel. That was all Maki could sum it up with.

It was around evening when there was a knock on the door of her quarters. When she didn't respond, the door opened and her mother walked in. For once, her hair hadn't been twisted into some complicated bun; it rested freely around her shoulders, not long enough to be called mid-length but not short enough to be called short. Her mother looked a lot more casual that day than she had ever done, and it threw Maki off slightly, the red-haired teenager sitting up and propping herself up by her hands, staring expectantly at the woman.

"I hope I did not interrupt anything." Her mother sat at the foot of Maki's bed.

"You didn't." Maki eyed her warily. "What is it, mother?"

"I would like to apologise."

Maki raised an eyebrow. Those were the kind of words she'd never expected to hear from her mother's mouth, let alone to her in particular. "W-What?"

"I have been rather... inconsiderate of your feelings. I hope you understand that this isn't the kind of deal I could have turned down. We have owed the Sonodas for a long time. They helped the Nishikino house out considerably, and no matter how you look at it, this is the way we promised to pay them back. With a spouse for their heir. They wanted our first-born, and you, as our only child, fit that criteria. I didn't realise... I made the deal before you were even born. I did not realise how much it would affect us... all of us, not only you. Your father and I will miss you very dearly. I didn't know what it was like to have a child, to raise one and love one and nurture one, and then be forced to let them go. It would have happened eventually, but..." She sighed and closed her eyes. "What I am trying to say is, I do love you. I am your mother, after all, but I am just far too much of a busy woman to be able to sit down and tell you. I really... I really hope you can understand."

Maki's eyes widened as the woman spoke, and it was as if her heart stopped. Her mother... really did care for her? A few moments after she was finished speaking, Maki let out a sigh. "I'm still unhappy. I still don't like that you forced me into this marriage, and that you refused to support me with what I really wanted to do, but..." Her eyes fluttered shut, refusing to watch the heartbroken expression of her mother. "I am...I am glad that you apologised. And that you love me. I still cannot fully believe it, but... I'll try and take your word for it."

She opened her eyes and her mother was smiling. It was a rare sight, such so that she couldn't help but smile back.

Whilst she was ending things, she at least ended them on a good note rather than a sour one.

And that was all that mattered.

~~~

It was midnight when Kotori Minami fled from her quarters.

She had turned in for an early night during the evening, excusing herself from her evening meal to wash and then sleep. Once in the safety of her own quarters, she then waited. Candles out, the only light coming from the moon shining into the room, she changed into her night-clothes as she waited. Usually she wore a pink night dress, but tonight she wore black. It was easier to hide when she wore black than pink; just in case anyone was wandering the castle at night, she could duck behind a gargoyle, or a statue or a stairwell and hide. Kotori was good at hiding - hide and seek had been a game she and her friend Honoka had played often. Honoka, being the loud and obnoxious girl she was, always got caught, but Kotori could hide for as long as she wanted without being caught. Maybe it was Honoka's obnoxiousness, but there was some actual talent hidden in there. Now she'd put all those childhood games to the test.

She did not know the time, so when she assumed it was midnight, or at least everyone was in their quarters, she tiptoed out of her room, slowly and sneakily to the opposite room, Hanayo's quarters. She opened the door carefully and crept up to the sleeping girl, tapping her gently on the shoulder. The olive-haired girl's eyes opened slightly, and Kotori felt slightly bad for waking her when she was trying to fall asleep.

"Y-Your Highness?" Hanayo sat up immediately. "I-Is there danger? I-I'll get the-"

" _Shhh_!" Kotori hissed, slamming a hand over her handmaiden's mouth before the frantic girl grew too loud. "Not too loud. We're going to the dungeon."

"H-Huh?"

"Rin. We're going to rescue Rin."

Hanayo's eyes widened, and she gulped. "N-No... that's dangerous... I-I really want her to be s-safe, but... we can't _rescue_ her from there... t-there are guards, aren't there?"

Kotori smiled. "I found a schedule. It's written on paper when the guards change duties, and I know for fact that it takes a while to switch duties because in a short moment, the guards guarding Rin's dungeon will be swapping with guards guarding the very other end of the castle. Do you know what that means?"

Hanayo blinks.

"We'll have plenty of time to save Rin from the dungeon and help her out, and they will never know it was even us."

"B-But I broke down in tears in front of them... i-if Rin escapes, t-they'll kick me out..."

"Not if I can cover for you." Kotori took Hanayo's hand and dragged her out of bed, the olive-haired girl squirming as she tried to regain her balance on the ground, still groggy from being roused from her sleep. "My mother will believe me if I say I had a nightmare and went to sleep in your room. I can spin a very good lie if I have to, you know."

"Are you sure?" Hanayo asked, her voice scarcely a whisper.

Kotori nodded. "I know it will make you happy if Rin is safe."

Tears welled up in the olive-haired girl's eyes. "I-I just...I just want us to be able to... to be together... like we used to..."

"And now you can."

Hanayo looked up, managing a sad smile. "T-Thank you, Your Highness."

The two girls left Hanayo's quarters, Kotori's hand still clasping Hanayo's, their fingers entwined together in a mixture of nervousness and excitement, the door quietly closing behind them. Barefoot, they walked down the corridors, ducking behind gargoyles every time they heard footsteps, heart rates increasing and breathing becoming heavier until the sounds passed and left earshot. It wasn't long before they were down at the dungeons, as there weren't many guards in the more open areas of the castle like the corridors - they guarded the Queen's room, and they guarded any other areas that contained something precious (Kotori's room was so hidden away and was guarded pretty much by Hanayo alone, they didn't deem it a place needed to be guarded) very closely. But when they changed shifts, moved on to their next duty or retired for the night, they weren't so careful with their guarding. They would leave dungeons unattended for a while, considering the prisoners inside had no means of escape. But for people on the outside, it was easy to grab the key and unlock it, unchain the prisoner and carry them out.

And that was fully what Kotori intended to do. The steps down to the dungeon were steep and ventured deep down, and as soon as they reached the foot, they hid behind another gargoyle - _honestly, the things were everywhere_ \- and waited until they heard the groggy voices of weary guards who had been on duty for too long; the sound Kotori knew too well.

"Last shift change for the night," one of them yawned.

"Better make it quick," the other groaned.

"I'd rather take a slow walk. Standing around doing nothing makes me even more exhausted."

"Slow walk it is, then. Let's go."

They passed the gargoyle and began heading up the steep steps, and Kotori heard them sigh with each step. It was fine going down, unless you were clumsy like Hanayo (she nearly tripped countless times, and would have had a nasty fall if Kotori hadn't had a firm grasp on her hand) but going up was a different story. It was exhausting and strenuous on the legs, and it was the reason why nobody really went down to the dungeon unless they were on duty. Kotori hadn't been down there since she was a curious kid who then discovered what prisoners were after heading down to the dungeon. She didn't really know the way around, but she knew that Rin's cell would be somewhere far to the back, where the worser criminals went. So she began to head that way, pretending she knew what on earth she was doing when really she was just acting like that so Hanayo wouldn't freak out and reveal their location.

When she saw a short mane of ginger hair on a head that was hung down and staring at the ground, she knew she'd hit the jackpot.

"Rin," Hanayo called out softly, emotion clouding her voice and her face.

The cat-like girl looked up in surprise at the calling of her name. Her eyes were bloodshot; she'd evidently been crying just moments prior and had fallen into post-breakdown silence. Kotori had experienced that before. Crying the hardest you've ever cried before, then just falling into silence, with a dull unmoving stare and emptiness in your eyes. Hanayo approached Rin's cell and wrapped her hands around the bars, trying to get as close as possible to Rin.

"R-Rin, please hold on..."

"What are you doing?" Rin hissed. "You need to get out, Kayo. The guards will come and they're not exactly frien-"

"We're here to rescue you," Kotori said, grabbing the key which was concealed behind a rather scary-looking gargoyle and moving towards the cell. Currently the Minami dungeons didn't house many criminals, so Rin was the only one around, apart from a sleeping old man who Kotori didn't recognise. He was out cold, however, so Kotori didn't worry about him. She put the key in the lock and twisted so the cell door opened, and she gestured for Rin to leave. The orange-haired girl looked conflicted, but eventually stood up and hurried out of the cell, rushing towards Hanayo and hugging her again. Tears welled up in both of their eyes and Kotori smiled sadly at the scene. The two girls would have limited time together before Kotori disguised Rin and gave her an escape route. But she would try her best to make sure they'd see each other again. She would. She promised herself, and she'd promised Hanayo.

"We need to get out of here. The guards will be coming shortly for their duty. Come on." Kotori closed the cell door and the three girls hurried along, bare feet pattering against the cold cobblestone floor of the dungeons, and they reached the stairs, running up them despite the difficulty because it was their one chance and they needed to take it. They reached the top, hearing voices approaching from the right. Kotori felt a surge of panic wash over her as she realised they would turn the corner in barely a secon-

However, Rin's mafia instincts kicked in and she tackled the two of them to the ground into a hiding spot behind yet another gargoyle. _How many gargoyles do we even have in the Minami castle?_ Kotori shook her head and smiled slightly. Having Rin to help them now was a huge advantage.

"Did you hear a noise?"

"Huh?"

"...Never mind. I must be hearing things. It's pretty late."

There was an audible yawn from one of the guards.

"Yeah. Can't wait until I can finally sleep."

They step down into the dungeon, and when they've disappeared down the dark stairway, the girls emerged from behind the gargoyle, Rin wearing the determined face of someone who was an experienced mafia member. Hanayo kept staring at Rin weirdly, her eyes growing wide whenever she saw the expression on her childhood friend's face. Kotori really did wonder if Hanayo did just like Rin as a childhood friend, or if she'd developed something more. It was none of her business, however, and she wasn't the type to pry. She always had a sense of curiosity, but if someone didn't want to have something pushed onto them, she never did so.

It took a few more minutes and a few more frantic hiding experiences for the girls to find their way out of the castle and onto the grounds. The cold air hit Kotori, and she felt the breeze around her bare legs. She was always so hidden and concealed by long dresses with copious amounts of layers, she'd never really experienced being outside wearing simply a nightdress and underclothes. It was... refreshing, to say the least. She felt a lot cooler than usual.

She turned around and grinned at Rin and Hanayo. "We did it."

Rin closed her eyes and tilted her head back. Hanayo looked up, but without closing her eyes, and noticed the sky. "Rin, look at the sky."

The cat-like girl opened her eyes just slightly. "What is it, Kayo?"

"The stars."

Kotori watched as the two girls looked up at the stars. She remembered what Hanayo had told her, about when she and Rin were kids and they would spend hours outside, lying on the grass and watching the stars. Watching them silently observe the stars, knowing that no communication was needed to demonstrate their feelings... it reminded Kotori a lot of when she and Honoka were still able to be around each other. Of course, they could never lie and watch the stars, considering Honoka had the attention span of a goldfish - but they still had emotional moments. The most emotional being when Honoka was forced to leave Kotori behind in the kingdom and move elsewhere, fleeing from the war with her family. Kotori hoped that wherever Honoka was, she was safe and happy. She deserved it. She was one of the kindest souls Kotori had ever met.

It hurt to interrupt Rin and Hanayo. They were so lost in the stars that they could not think. Rin forgot about how, mere moments ago she believed she was going to die - she forgot she was a wanted criminal, forgot that if she was ever found again she'd be killed on the spot... nothing mattered. As for Hanayo, she forgot about her worries and troubles. That she would probably not see Rin for a long time, if ever after that moment. That they would be separated again and Rin would be sent far away. It was for Rin's own safety, but... Hanayo still wished, selfishly indeed, that Rin would not leave her.

Kotori had to interrupt them. She tapped Hanayo gently on the shoulder, and Hanayo's gaze was pulled away from the stars with much reluctance, leading Rin to turn her head as well. Hanayo's expression was sad as she realised what Kotori was about to say.

"It's time to go, Rin."

Hanayo's arms were wrapped around Rin once again before Kotori could finish saying her sentence, and the two embraced for what seemed like hours but was actually mere seconds. Kotori smiled sadly at the pair, and when they parted, she took Rin gently by the hand. "I promise," she said, her words directed at both of the girls, "I promise that I will bring you two together again. I will make sure that you can be together for good someday. And if I cannot do that..." She looked down. "I will consider myself a failure and a terrible friend."

Hanayo, teary-eyed and emotional, patted Kotori on the cheek with a trembling hand. "It's okay... I-I know there's only so much you can do..."

"You've already done so much for us," Rin said, and Kotori could tell she was trying to keep her voice from wavering. "There's not much else we can ask you to do. All I want you to do is keep Kayo safe. Her job is to keep you safe, but Kayo needs protecting too. She's younger than you, and more vulnerable, and..." Rin's voice trailed off, and Kotori nodded.

"I'll protect her."

Hanayo let out a final choked sob as she saw her childhood friend be led away by the princess. Rin looked back and wondered how she had been so lucky. She had seen Hanayo again, and she was blessed with being able to live again.

Kotori delivered her to the forest outskirts, and Rin untied the black cloak which had been wrapped around her waist and swung it over her shoulders, pulling up the hood so that her face was concealed.

"Will you be okay for food?"

"I've spent a considerable amount of time in the forest before. I should be fine." Rin's voice was quiet, sad, almost.

"Okay." Kotori backed away. "I wish you all the best, Hoshizora Rin."

Rin looked up, and smiled - it was the first time Kotori had seen her smile directed at her, and it really was contagious. She felt herself smile back of her own accord, and the cat-like girl's eyes began to well up with tears, which she quickly blinked back and pulled the hood further over her head and spoke.

"You too, Minami Kotori."

And the mafia girl disappeared into the abyss of the forest.


	6. Secrets and Successions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eli meets the tantalizing spiritual girl again as Maki walks the aisle to the end of her liberty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you want a reference for what maki's wedding dress looks like: http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/32235091176/2015Sexy-V-neckline-Long-Sleeves-See-Through-A-line-Lace-White-Ivory-Wedding-Dresses-New-Fashion.jpg  
> just with slightly shorter sleeves ^-^
> 
> also this is officially the longest chapter thus far!!! it's taken me quite a few days to write as my inspiration comes and goes but i've tried to work at least a little on it every day since the 5th july, so i hope you enjoy it!

As a knight, Eli was sworn to secrecy. Every mission she completed, every piece of information she discovered, every criminal she caught, everything was reserved for the Queen only, and necessary details were passed on to the Queen's workers or other knights. The bottom line was, Eli did not tell secrets. She had grown to be very good at that, considering she'd never let slip information in her entire career as a knight. There were times when she came close, when prying soldiers tried to coax information out of her, but the Minami kingdom had seen many spies before, and Eli made it her duty to not reveal anything to any of them. They used many methods - seduction, intimidation, whatever they needed to do to get close to the information. She could tell spies from mere curious minds judging by how irritated they got with every question Eli rejected to answer, and once a suspect spy had been chosen, a full investigation was carried out. Eli had captured many foolish spies in her time as a knight, spies who thought that mere prying was good enough to earn the information they'd been assigned to get. That was why important information and battle plans were passed on only to trusted knights. And Eli, as the closest knight to the Queen herself, was top of the list.

That was why she was a little on edge about the spiritual thing. She did not want to be pulled into some sort of fantasy dream-world, only to have questions asked to her that she answered without hesitation... she did not suspect Nozomi to be a spy, but there was always a possibility that she was an enemy disguised as a Toujou. And Eli refused to be played that way...

... so why was she standing on the doorstep of Nozomi's house again?

It had been a sudden decision, as Eli's mind had not been free of Nozomi for quite some time. The extravagance of her house and all its spiritual artifacts and the beauty of the twin-tailed goddess herself was nagging the blonde knight to no end, circling around her thoughts all day, causing her to miss quite a few targets and receive disapproving looks from other knights as they wondered what had got to her so badly she was falling behind in terms of her swordsmanship. Eli did not want to fall behind, and in order to take her mind off Nozomi, she needed closure. Which meant speaking to her again, and seeing the face, smooth skin, turquoise eyes and warm, adorable smile. Hearing her unique, distinct voice, a dialect she found unfamiliar, and responding to that voice. Being in her home again. Breathing in the tranquil atmosphere and allowing herself to relax as Nozomi guided her once again through the procedure of spiritual enlightenment.

The door opened to reveal the very person Eli was looking for, and her eyes widened in surprise as she laid eyes upon the knight. "O-Oh, Eli-chi," _the nickname again,_ "I wasn't expecting you."

"Are you not available right now?"

"N-No, I am, I was just a little surprised, is all. Come on in."

The warm smile flashed in her direction gave Eli reassurance that Nozomi was not at all offended by her sudden departure at their previous meeting. It was, of course, nothing Eli had planned, but it was still rude of her to leave in such a fashion when she had just settled down for a session with Nozomi. She wanted to forget about the reason she had left, the girl from the mafia of Otonokizaka being captured and locked in the dungeons, only to have escaped the previous night. The Queen was furious, and immediately blamed the poor handmaiden of all people - clearly blind to her own daughter standing and defending her. Eli was not as dense as the queen, and knew as soon as the news reached her who had been responsible for the escape, or, as she'd more likely put it, the _rescue_ of Hoshizora Rin. The princess herself, Minami Kotori, was clearly the one responsible. Eli found it easier to read people from years of having to tell spies from knights and tell if criminals were lying or not, and Kotori's expression upon receiving the news made it clear to Eli.

Yet she had not told the Queen as soon as she noticed. That was part of her job as a knight, her duty, to pass on anything shifty to the Queen so that she could deal with it. But over the years, Eli's hard heart had softened slightly, and the princess's soft droopy eyes, looking down in dismay as her handmaiden was raged at... it struck Eli that she did not want to put the princess or her hard-working handmaiden through any trouble. So she held her tongue and looked at the ground as the Queen shrieked and shouted. She did not know what fate would befall the handmaiden, but Hoshizora Rin had escaped, and that clearly mattered to them.

Even Eli felt that the Queen had been harsh in her punishment for the girl.

"Excuse the mess," Nozomi said as they entered the same room they had been in before they were interrupted, and Eli noticed candles scattered around the floor, with some of the artifacts lying around and one expensive-looking vase smashed on the floor. "The last customer I had did not take well to the treatment. So they kicked around my items a little."

Eli's eyes widened. "Nozomi, that vase-"

"I know." Nozomi looked down sadly. "It was a gift from my father. Before he died."

Shock overcame her. _How could she be so calm?_ She knew that the pain of losing a loved one numbed after a while, and saying it out loud became easier, but the fact that the vase had just been _broken_ and she still said it so matter-of-factly...

"I will pay for a replacement," Eli spoke, her words greeted with a shocked expression. "It will never be enough to replace the significance of the vase, but I cannot just idly stand by while such a thing happens. How _morbid_ , that a human being would recklessly destroy such an important item..."

"You don't have to!" Nozomi interrupted. "P-Please don't. You did nothing. You should not pay the price for someone else-"

"I want to," Eli said. _What's gotten into me all of a sudden?_ She regained her composure and straightened her back. "I have ample money to pay for it, and it looks significantly expensive. More so than even the other items in this room. Maybe it is just the importance of the vase and what it means to you, but I do feel the burning desire to compensate for it, even if it wasn't my fault it broke."

"B-But..."

"Just let me." Eli looked down at the slightly shorter girl, determined blue eyes meeting concerned turquoise. " _Nozomi_."

There was silence for a few moments, and Nozomi glanced down at the broken vase. "I-I'm not..."

"We'll discuss it later, then." Eli walked over to where she was seated last time and sat down, putting her legs in the same meditation position Nozomi had taught her the previous time. "Hopefully this time we won't be interrupted."

Nozomi smiled and sat opposite Eli in the same position, the soles of her feet pressed together. "Don't tell me you've been practicing sitting like this, Eli-chi?" Eli laughed and Nozomi's smile widened. It was a pretty smile; unlike anything the blonde knight had seen before - she'd seen smiles, but never anything as illuminating and bright as this one. It was warm and homely and made Eli feel more relaxed, her posture becoming more casual as Nozomi started to giggle.

"I've never had a customer who practiced the sitting position just to impress me," she said, and Eli grinned.

"Looks like I'm a special one, then."

"You really are." Nozomi sighed slightly, and picked up a candle which had been knocked over, setting it back up. "I am very sorry. The room is a mess."

"Don't apologise. It wasn't your fault." Eli felt angry, angry at whoever had kicked around and messed up the room that was so precious to Nozomi, broken a vase that had been the last thing she had left to remind her of her deceased father, and what truly saddened her was the fact that Nozomi was quiet about it. As if she didn't want to pin the blame on anyone but herself, when it was far from her fault, and she had every right to be ranting and raging about it. But she didn't. She maintained a polite posture as she tidied up the area around them and set it out as usual.

Nozomi began the treatment, beginning with some meditation and then going into some spiritual chants and humming. Then she took Eli's hands and turned them over to the palms, beginning to trace over the lines on them. Eli felt her face flush - her eyes were closed under Nozomi's request, but the sweet scent of the girl overcame her and her soft, gentle touch running over her palm made her heart shudder slightly.

Was this what _attraction_ felt like?

Nozomi withdrew her hands from Eli's and asked her to open her eyes. Upon doing so, she was greeted with Nozomi's beaming face and she couldn't have felt happier. The warm smile. The beautiful room. It was so peaceful and calming, Eli never wanted to leave.

"I predict a long life for you, Eli-chi," Nozomi said. "Your palm reading tells me so. And I pray you are relaxed now, as I performed a calming chant to help ease any nerves."

Eli nodded. "I-I..." She coughed after she stuttered, wondering why her words had just vanished upon her tongue. "I must thank you, Nozomi. That definitely... it definitely helped, I am certainly calmer now. This place has just the right kind of aura, and... yes. I am eased, but there is still the worry lurking in the back of my mind, and I don't think that could ever be rid of."

Nozomi nodded. "I understand the kingdom is under a lot of pressure now. The rivalry has been heating up since the fight between the Yazawas and Minamis."

"Yes. There have been many on-goings lately." This was usually the point where she shut down the conversation, but Nozomi's gaze was held on her and it was so enchanting she didn't want to stop. "We had an escaped criminal, and I firmly believe it was the princess who released her. The handmaiden and the criminal were childhood friends, and the princess, being the kind, angelic girl she is, assisted in the young girl's escape. We don't know where she is, but the Queen has accused the handmaiden of releasing her and there's a lot of tension within the castle." After speaking, she realised; _did I just spill all that information to this girl?_ She was about to clasp a hand over her mouth and excuse herself, but Nozomi looked understanding.

"And you pity the princess and her handmaiden, so you have failed to report the crime?"

"Yes. I don't know what has gotten into me. It's my job to inform the queen of these things, yet I remained silent. If she ever were to find out, and then accuse me of knowing, I'll be out of work and I love being a knight too much to let it go. However, looking into the sad eyes of the princess is like seeing a small animal killed. It hurts beyond repair, and you just want to do anything to help. So I am helping Kotori for now. Though she does not know, I plan on informing her as soon as I can get a moment alone with her, to let her know that I am on her side."

"What did the criminal do?"

"Attempted to murder a man who was performing criminal acts himself. I don't fully understand it - the attack took place in Otonokizaka, yet guards from the Minami kingdom were present and captured her, taking her back here to be trialed. Her trial lasted all but five minutes and was mostly composed of the handmaiden Hanayo hugging her and sobbing before the Queen placed her on the death sentence and sent her to the dungeon, sending Hanayo and Kotori back to their quarters."

Nozomi furrowed her brows. "That surely cannot be within law boundaries."

"It is not, but I cannot speak out against the Queen. She kept the whole case private between the people who were present at the trial, and, truth be told, me telling you was a mistake."

"I am not a spy, Eli-chi. You can trust me on that. Ask around and they'll all tell you, I've lived in this house since I was born and I plan on staying here for the foreseeable future." Nozomi smiled softly. "I occasionally visit the castle, and that's when I see you training. You are very talented with a sword."

"Thank you. You're talented at spiritual... whatever you call them."

"Rituals? Chants? Palm readings? There are many things spiritual related, Eli-chi, but over the years I've mastered many of them." Nozomi twirled a lock of dark purple hair around her index finger absent-mindedly, but even that simple gesture made Eli's heart pace quicken slightly. _What is wrong with me?_ Then Nozomi looked up, turquoise eyes bearing a serious look.

"I am interested in you, Eli-chi."

Eli's eyes widened. "H-Huh?"

"I am interested in you. I would like to spend more time with you. Is that... is that feeling mutual?"

Eli shuddered. Nozomi felt the same way as her? They were both... intrigued by one another? Eli didn't hesitate and nodded. "Yes. I feel the same way."

Nozomi looked shocked for a moment, then smiled brightly. "Thank you, Eli-chi. I promise I will plan a good day together. On your next day off?"

"You can visit me on my shifts at the market, usually during busy afternoons. Not much crime happens in the Minami markets, so those shifts tend to just be a lot of idle walking around. It'd be nice to have some company. My next day off isn't for a while, not until the end of next week, I believe. But I will keep that day open for you, by all means, Nozomi." Eli returned her smile.

"That means a lot to me."

"And I definitely will replace the vase. You can count on it."

Nozomi nodded, though her smile no longer reached her eyes. She led Eli to the entrance and opened the door, Eli standing one step down outside and Nozomi leaning against the door-frame, relaxed posture and comforting smile. "I'll visit you tomorrow, if you are at the market then. I've heard there will be activities going on. The Sonodas will be calm for the time being, as their heir is to be married today, so we're not expecting any attacks, are we?"

Eli furrowed her brows. "You know an awful lot about the Sonodas."

"My cousin has connections with the Queen and a lot of updates on the Sonodas' current affairs is fed back to him."

"I see."

Nozomi gave one last smile. "Tomorrow it is, then?"

"Sure. I'll be in the market. It'll be easy to find me, I hope, unless there are more people than I expect."

Nozomi took a step back into her house and Eli felt a pang of loneliness as she saw the door about to close, Nozomi leaving her with just a few words that lifted her spirit and sent what felt like Cupid's arrow shooting straight through her heart.

"It's a date, then."

 

~~~

 

It fit perfectly.

Part of her wished it didn't. Part of her wished that the goddamn dress was ugly and too tight and bad-looking and the wedding was put on hold so that they could find a new dress and she had some more time to herself. Part of her wished that she tripped up on the aisle and embarrassed Umi and her family so much that they banished her from the wedding. Part of her wished it was all a dream, and every inch of her being wished for the nauseous feeling in her stomach, as the dress _clicked_ around her stomach and was adjusted slightly to fit her to perfection, to go away. But it didn't. The woman who clipped her dress on gave a satisfied hum and she looked in the mirror, her stomach dropping at the sight before her.

Her hair was twisted into an elegant bun, fiery red locks tamed and spun around the top of her head, two spirals hanging from each side, and her skin was smooth with whatever they'd rubbed onto it and as she looked down she found the beautiful, priceless necklace hung around her neck and the white, flowing dress, layers of material that felt smooth and silky and beautiful, a matching flower belt-like ribbon tied around her waist, and lacy see-through white gloves up her arms, not covering the fingers but going from the hand to the bicep, lace with white swirls on.

It was beautiful. And that was what scared her.

She turned back around as the woman patted various areas of her body, checking the fit of the dress, giving a nod every time she patted somewhere - each nod made Maki lose more hope, as she realised; the dress really _was_ perfect. She would be subjected to the humiliation of walking down the aisle, eyes on her from all around the church, people eyeing her in admiration, some perverted old men ogling her in her dress, which was, admittedly, rather low-cut. She felt a pressure on top of her head and looked up to find a veil being lowered around her bun, and the fabric of the veil touched her moderately bared back as she walked towards the door to leave the fitting room. Reality hit her. Umi was waiting at the altar, dressed in whatever suit her father had forced her into and waiting anxiously for Maki to arrive. Her father was waiting outside, in some fancy outfit with his arm out for her to take so he could walk her down the aisle. And her mother was in the audience, nails digging into hands as she realised her daughter did not want this. And she was giving her daughter away against her will, and there was _nothing_ she could do to change that.

Maki knew people made mistakes. She knew very well, from all the mistakes she'd made growing up to mistakes she made now. But sometimes, when people's mistakes cost other people their humanity and freedom, those were the kinds of mistakes she didn't forgive. And the mistake her mother made led to Maki being married off young and robbed of a future. Robbed of a life as an official Nishikino healer, despite her talent. Despite the words of encouragement her father had spoken to her which didn't mean a thing now because she didn't need it anymore. She'd never be allowed to concoct medicines anymore, not under the Sonoda house. She had kissed goodbye to her old working station that morning, for she'd never see it again for as long as she lived. She was to spend the rest of her life as a humble bride living in the Sonoda house and performing typical wifely duties, and, before she knew it, she'd be forced to raise a child.

The door opened and her father looked up, brought to attention by Maki's shimmering dress, and she swore she saw tears in his eyes as he reached his arm out to her without words. She wrapped her arm around his and the trembling of her arm spoke all the words she couldn't say in the presence of the fitting lady, and her father offered her a nod. A sympathetic nod. At least he was on her side.

The sound of music, typical wedding music grew louder as she approached the main hall where Umi was waiting for her, and she reached the archway that led into the room. People's eyes turned and they raised to their feet, watching in awe as the bride made her way out to the aisle, attached to the arm of her father, looking around the room with a terrified expression. She'd never been good with crowds, and she felt her legs tremble and grow weak. She just prayed they didn't give out in the middle of the aisle. Maybe it'd be better that way. She'd be unconscious at her own wedding, and she wouldn't have to watch it happen. But she didn't collapse. She kept on walking, despite her reluctance, because she knew there was no easy way out. And she'd take a hard way out, but she still didn't know what she could do. And Umi was waiting there, Umi, who hadn't done anything wrong, was standing there under her father's orders as Maki walked towards her under her mother's instruction. They were both pawns in their parents' little games and there was no other purpose to this wedding than to finalise a deal. To repay for a favour that was done over a decade prior. As much as her mother longed for forgiveness and apologised for her wrongdoing, Maki knew she'd never be able to forgive her. Not for this.

She carefully walked up the steps until she was stood in front of Umi, facing her. A vicar stood between them and raised his hands to begin the ceremony. He read out the lines she'd heard when she'd attended weddings of family members before - and then the lines she'd been dreading, the lines that would seal the deal of her and Umi's wedding, leaving her confined within the duty of a wife for the rest of eternity.

"Do you, Nishikino Maki, take Sonoda Umi to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, to honour, and to cherish?"

Her throat was dry. "I do."

"And do you, Sonoda Umi, take Nishikino Maki to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, to honour, and to cherish?"

"I do." Umi's voice was stronger, unfeeling. As if she had no emotion whatsoever, her face a blank slate, unreadable, which scared Maki beyond imagination. She was to be married to someone whose emotions she couldn't even read. What a terrifying thought.

"I now pronounce you married. Till death do you part."

_Till death do we part._ The audience cheered, and Maki was still, unmoving, her eyes fixated on Umi's face without even realising until Umi took her arm and led her down the steps, towards the archway so that they could leave. Leave together. And go where? _Oh yeah._ Back to the Sonoda house. Where they would be expected to...

Maki gulped. It was going too fast. _Far_ too fast.

But she couldn't stop walking, and Umi's grip on her arm was too strong to break free from, and even if she did break free, where was there to go? Outside? There she'd find guards waiting to capture her and take her back. There was no escape. Her heart raced as they left the church, the applause leaving earshot and the gentle breeze outside making the red spirals on either side of her head brush against her skin and cooled her back down. She still had a headache. There was something about the church room she'd just been in that had made her head hurt beyond any mere headache she'd ever had before.

Umi didn't speak to her as they boarded a carriage to make their way back to the house. She had to continue holding her hand, as there were people on the streets who were watching the open-top carriage drive past, led by a majestic black horse, and cheering and waving. Maki's right hand was enclosed around Umi's, but her left hand was free and she felt compelled to raise it and wave at the people on the sides of the streets, whose cheers raised in volume after.

The journey back to the castle was spent in silence, once the crowd began to die down, as they had no words left to say. There was only the sound of the _clip-clop_ of the horse's hooves against the ground and the shaking of the carriage as they traveled.

They arrived at the castle and disembarked the carriage, making their way into the castle. Maki felt her wedding dress itch at her and she wondered when she'd be able to take it off and change into more comfortable clothes; would Umi have to take the dress off, or would they do it later? Maki felt anxiety rise in her heart as she realised just what she was going to do. Indecent activities. Activities her mother had told her happened the night of marriage; Maki had browsed the Nishikino library and found a book on reproduction and intercourse, and read it all through - it had information on the way males did it together, the way females did it together and the way males and females did it together. She'd skipped to the female section and read through the details, feeling herself cringe with every word she read. The book did not hold back on details, and even gave tips and advice on how to make it better for the person you were with and yourself. She had absorbed the information, as she needed it, but she hated the fact that she had to do such things with someone she didn't feel attracted to.

"I had a servant lay out night-clothes for you," Umi stated once they were alone in each other's company, alone except for a gargoyle that seemed to stare into Maki's soul. "Change into those. I had them sewed to your measurements, which your mother informed me of. They will be your night-clothes from now on, and once you are in your day clothes a servant will wash them, so you needn't worry about it getting dirty."

"T-Thank you." Maki heard herself stutter and mentally cursed herself for showing weakness when Umi was so strong.

The black-haired girl in question turned to walk away, before Maki called out to her.

"U-Um, excuse me!"

She turned around, brown eyes meeting violet.

"About tonight..."

"I will return to our quarters tonight. Do not worry."

Then Umi was off again, and Maki could not find any more words in her dry throat. She took a slow walk to the kitchen to fill a goblet with water, and as the cold liquid made its way down her throat she realised how quiet the castle was. There were servants busying themselves around the corridors occasionally, but for the most part, it seemed rather empty. She would have to ask Umi about it later, if she worked up the courage to ask her. She downed the water and then a few servants entered the kitchen, eyes widening upon seeing a red-headed girl in a wedding dress drinking in their kitchen. However, they recognised it all - red hair, violet eyes and a wedding dress with a veil draped over her head? Definitely the heir's new wife. They bowed down and stayed that way, and Maki's heart began to race. They were bowing... for her?

"H-Hey, there's no need to do that," she said. "I was just here for some water, is all."

The servants straightened their backs and glanced at Maki with wide eyes. "Is there anything else you require, my lady?"

_My lady._ It sounded so strange when directed at her. "I'm fine. Thank you." She bowed and quickly hurried out of the room.

She realised that she did not know her way around the castle at all, and Umi had disappeared off somewhere. The only thing left was to ask around the servants where she could find her quarters, and she was already awkward to begin with. A female servant with droopy, sleepy eyes and light brown hair trudged past, and Maki patted her on the arm.

"Excuse me?"

"AH!"

The girl was shocked by the sudden touch, but when she laid eyes upon who had touched her she immediately widened her eyes and bowed. "I-I apologise deeply!" Her voice was slurred slightly - judging from the eyes and the expression and the voice, the girl had just woken from a nap and was a little disoriented. A servant... napping? Maki wondered if this girl was a special case or if the servants were granted such luxuries in the Sonoda house. She definitely favoured the former.

"It's fine. What's your name?"

"Kanata," she responded. "It's... nice to meet you, my lady."

"Pleasure," Maki said. "Could you possibly tell me where to find my quarters?"

Kanata looked around, dazed. "U-Um..." She looked lost, confused. "I-I'm not... really sure... where you sleep..."

"I sleep in the same room as the heir."

Kanata looked puzzled. Maki resisted the urge to sigh; this girl was a lost cause.

"Kanata, what are you doing?"

A silver-haired girl approached from an archway, and stopped upon seeing Maki. "A-Ah." She had short silver hair, slightly spiked at the end, and she wore a formal suit. She looked very organised and clean, and she spoke in a very refined way. It was hard to believe her to be a servant, when she looked like nobility herself. "Kanata, what have you been saying to Her Highness?" The girl bowed to Maki. "I apologise for whatever behaviour she's demonstrated."

"It's fine," Maki replied. "U-Uh, can you tell me where-"

"ISABELLA!"

_You've got to be kidding me._

There was another arrival at the corridor, a short girl with mousy hair tied in high pigtails by two red beads on each side. "You are supposed to be in the dining room! The _dining room_! There's supposed to be a special meal tonight and you're responsible for laying out the cutlery! As for you, Kanata, where have you been? Slacking off in the sitting room? Resting on a sofa somewhere? _That's not the job you signed up for, you idiot_!"

"Mikoto, calm down," Isabella said.

Maki felt a little awkward standing surrounded by these servants, and once the Mikoto girl acknowledged her presence her eyes went wide as the other two's had done, and she bowed immediately.

_"I apologise greatly, Your Highness!"_

Maki gulped. And then she grew irritated. And then she snapped.

"Can somebody _please_ tell me where my quarters are?!"

_"YES, YOUR HIGHNESS!"_

 

It took a lot of navigating to find her quarters, especially considering that Kanata nearly dropped off every few minutes and Isabella and Mikoto were constantly engaged in argument, but once they found their way there, it was nearly dusk. The castle was a lot bigger than Maki initially thought, and her quarters were located in a very hidden corner of the castle; probably to keep her and Umi safe. She looked at the bed she and Umi would be sharing, and she saw the view from the window leading out onto the grounds. It was beautiful, especially as the sunset tinted it orange and everything looked peaceful. Maki could almost imagine she was still free, and could leave any time she wanted and come back at her own will. That she could practice medicine on the study desk right by the window, the sun casting in and serving as a light for her as she worked and worked and worked.

But dreaming about it would never make it a reality, and there wasn't anything she could do, either. Only wait for night, get over with the 'consummation' and be done with it. Live her life as a wife and hope that Umi was a merciful spouse in return, letting her leave the castle upon request and granting her access to, perhaps, the medicinal plants they stored. Maybe there were more Nishikino healers who personally worked in the castle who could teach her a thing or two and help her practice; but that was a big thing to ask of Umi, and she didn't want to seem disrespectful.

She sat on the edge of the bed and the thought entered her mind of its own accord; what now? She had been married, she had been taken back to the castle in a carriage and there was a black night-dress waiting folded up next to her on the bed. She was waiting for the night to come around so that Umi would re-join her, they would consummate their marriage and she'd go to sleep, but when she woke up, after she had breakfast, what would she do? Did she receive a list of chores or was she expected to know what to do? The castle was beautiful, but there was hardly any entertainment to be found around it. The Sonodas were more focused on keeping the castle tidy and pretty rather than making it a fun place, and the Sonodas themselves didn't seem like much fun either. Maki didn't really play games as a kid - she'd never had any friends, and nobody wanted to play with the small crimson-haired girl - but she found other ways of entertaining herself, like making flower crowns in the meadow near her house or just exploring the kingdom in general.

There was a soft knock at her door, and she hurried over and opened it to find a servant standing there. She had silver hair, much like Isabella's but a lighter shade and longer, in two pigtails hanging down from each side of her head, tied by white ribbons. Her eyes were a peculiar shade of red, and she looked up at Maki with an expressionless face. "Dinner's ready."

Maki wondered why this servant in particular didn't bow and say 'Your Highness', but it was a refreshing change from the others, who appeared to have completely panicked once they lay eyes on her. She nodded and followed the girl down to the dining room, which was majestic and elegant, adorned with paintings and decorations, so rare and expensive Maki knew immediately that the dining room was one of the most extravagant rooms in the castle, though she still had much to explore. The colour scheme of the castle appeared to be a deep blue, 'royal' blue, you could say. The King and Queen were seated at the table, as well as some important looking nobles and Umi herself. Maki was seated and the Queen looked up at the scrawny servant girl who still lingered behind Maki.

"Sachiko, you are excused."

Sachiko bowed and hurried out of the dining room. Maybe she was also intimidated by the people at the table, and Maki couldn't blame her. She felt her palms begin to sweat and her heart rate increase as she sat down, and the food was served by a group of about seven servants, three of which were the ones Maki had met before. She flashed Isabella, Mikoto and Kanata, and they all returned her smile, even if Kanata's was a little drowsy and half-hearted.

"It is very nice to meet you for the first time, Miss Nishikino," the Queen said. "I would have liked to have met you prior to the wedding, but I was away on a trip and only returned last night."

"I...It's nice to meet you too, Your Majesty." Maki bowed her head respectfully.

"You seem to have very good etiquette and manners, Miss Nishikino." The Queen offered a formal smile, which was very clearly strained - maybe it was something to do with the crimson hair. "I think we have made the right decision in choosing you."

_Like you chose me for who I am now,_ Maki thought to herself, _rather than just getting me from a deal you made decades ago_. She kept the words in, not wanting to cause a scene at the table when Umi's eyes were trained on her, watching for any sign of discomfort. Or maybe just still taking in the fact that Maki was her _wife_. Maki still didn't believe herself to be a married woman yet; in her eyes, she was still the little girl who had an interest in medicine and whose father was an important Nishikino healer so other kids respected her. They didn't just respect her, though - they were _scared_ of her. She apparently had an 'intimidating' aura, which led to her life without friends.

Yazawa Nico might possibly have been the first person roughly her age she'd spoken to and hadn't been afraid of her.

She sighed quietly as she thought back to the day she'd arrived upon the battlefield to find corpses and wounded bodies, and the time she patched up the black-haired girl's wound and heard her story. The girl was older than her by a few years, despite the way she looked to be around thirteen. And she had already been involved in numerous fights just like that one. Maki had been a pacifist from the day she knew what war was, and she planned on staying that way, but she at least wanted to help the people who had been manipulated into the war zone. She wanted to heal people and cure people of their diseases and clean, dress and wrap their wounds. She had always wanted to work in a hospital for wounded soldiers - she'd visited one before with her father and had taken notes on a sheet of parchment in fine black ink and kept the notes in a drawer... back home.

Maki wondered if she'd ever be able to retrieve the extensive notes she took on that day.

The food was delicious, a variety of soups and stews and breads and fancy meat dishes which Maki politely ignored. She never had much of an appetite for meat, but she served herself some soup and picked up an interesting-looking slice of bread, which appeared to have nuts in it. It tasted good, though, and was cooked to perfection by a servant, and the soup; Maki had no idea what the contents were, but there was an edge to it which made it taste amazing.

_Medicinal spices and herbs can be added to soup if it has been prescribed to a person. Taking medicine with soup is a way to make the dish better-tasting, in some circumstances, and help a person recover without having to take the medicine separately, which can lead to reluctance to take it._ Maki remembered the sickly soldier in the hospital who had been taking his medicine through soup without realising, after his past records had shown him to grow violent when forced to take medicine. The man recovered, unknowing of the medicine which had been slipped into his meals, and he'd walked out of the hospital spouting something about 'God's blessing' and 'miracles'. Maki had never believed in a God, anyway - if he really did exist, why would the soldier have been in the war in the first place? Why would there have been a war, been conflict, if God can fix it? Maki never brought it up to anyone, however, as her family were highly religious, as was the kingdom in whole, so she went to church every Sunday as usual.

"The soup is lovely," she spoke up, breaking the silence, and the King nodded.

"It's a Sonoda-famous soup. A secret recipe which has been passed down in the royal family for generations and generations more to come - Umi here will be receiving the recipe and learning to make it when she is eighteen years old."

Maki nodded. "Whoever discovered such a taste deserves to have it made famous."

"We prefer to keep it in the family," the Queen spoke up. "I can't have the recipe being spread when it is so vital to the Sonoda house and such a significant part of our family history." The King hummed in agreement, and Umi looked down, pushing food around her plate as if it disgusted her.

"I suppose that makes sense," Maki said. "It's like some of the medicines my father made, which we've never shared the recipe for with anyone else as it's a dangerous medicine and can be used for wrong-doings. So we keep it within the most elite Nishikino healers, thus avoiding intentional murders stemming from the fact that we shared a recipe for a potentially lethal antidote."

The Sonodas seemed rather impressed with her healer language, and nodded in approval. Maki wondered what the other nobles were doing at the table when they hadn't spoken.

"These are the kingdom's top knights," the Queen explained. "Tsurugi, Hitomi, Ryo and Sakura. Introduce yourselves, if needs be."

A girl with short blue hair stood up and bowed to Maki. "My name is Tsurugi Kadota. I am the head knight of the Sonoda kingdom, and I operate the Queen's elite squad, which consists of me, the other knights at this table and a few others who were unable to make it."

Another girl with long black hair tied into a ponytail at the back and hazel eyes stood, bowed like Tsurugi, and introduced herself - "My name is Hitomi and I am second-in-command of the Queen's elite knight squad. I have been a knight for over a decade now and I have to say, it was the best decision I have ever made in my life." She nodded and sat down.

It kept going with the other girls, Ryo and Sakura, who were the Queen's knights and enjoyed their job like Hitomi. Maki was a pacifist, but even she had wondered what it was like to be a knight. Probably stressful, and risky, too - so why did people do it, and why did they enjoy it?

After the introductions, the knights talked a little about the work they did and then they finished their food in silence. Once everybody had eaten their fill, the Queen stood up and dismissed them, the knights going first, then Umi and Maki. Maki had no idea where she was going, so she quickly trailed behind Umi to leave the room, leaving behind the King and Queen, Umi's parents. The Queen appeared to be a very calm and collected woman, but very business-like. And she'd already met Umi's father - the strict man who had read off the list of rules that Maki had imprinted into her brain. She remembered every single one of them. Wifely duties. Consummation. Everything like that, and what her father had told her afterwards.

It didn't take a genius for Maki to know where Umi was taking her. Back to their shared quarters, where they'd... _gulp._ Maki tried not to show nervousness and walked with a little extra vigor in her step, causing a loud stomp which made the navy-haired girl turn around with a frown.

"Are you feeling alright, Maki?" she asked, and the crimson-haired girl felt her face flush.

"Y-Yeah, sorry. I got lost in thought."

Umi nodded and turned back around, and they found themselves at the door of their quarters. Maki's night-dress lay on the bed, ready for her to change into, and Umi strolled towards a wardrobe where she kept her clothes. She pulled out a navy blue night-dress to match her hair, and Maki was thankful she hadn't been given a crimson red dress. She liked the colour red, but not wearing it when it so blatantly matched her hair, which she knew was more of a pinkish shade of red. Her night-dress was black, and she knew that she suited the colour rather well, so as Umi turned her back to get changed, Maki stripped herself of the wedding dress she'd been itching to change out of, and changed into the black night-dress. She didn't watch as Umi changed; she wasn't a pervert, despite what she knew they'd have to do later. Once the navy-haired girl turned around, she found the crimson-haired girl ready for bed, pulling the shutters until they covered the window and the room descended into darkness, bar the dimly lit candle by Umi's bedside. Maki wondered if the girl was scared of the dark or if she just wanted some light until they were both safe in their bed - once she climbed in next to the navy-haired girl, and the candle was blown out, she wrote it off as the second.

And then there was silence.

_Huh? Has she gone to sleep already?_ Maki's head turned to the side from where she was lying on her back like a starfish anticipating Umi's touch, but the navy-haired girl was facing away from her. It couldn't be possible to fall asleep that fast. So the heir was awake, but she... wasn't...?

Maki remained in her starfish position, not wanting to move in fear of disturbing the navy-haired heir. So she let her eyes flutter shut, but the feeling of unfamiliarity by sleeping in this new, strange place with this new, strange person was enough to keep her from sleep for a little longer. Nothing was happening. Was Umi blatantly refusing to, making a statement about how she did not want to marry Maki? Or was it that the heir also realised that the mood just wasn't right, that there was no way that she could do this when Maki was so uncomfortable and she was so-

Maki felt a pressure above her as the navy-haired girl flipped over so that she hovered above her, both of her hands on either side of Maki's shoulders. Her eyes were dull and expressionless as she leaned down and pressed her lips firmly to Maki's.

The crimson-haired girl's heart jumped as she experienced her first kiss, but it wasn't the magical kind of experience every little girl dreamed of; she felt nothing when the heir's lips touched her own, and as she kissed her longer, she finalised the thought in her head - she wasn't attracted to the Sonoda heir at all. Umi was beautiful and successful and powerful, everything anyone seeking to rule and have power ever wanted. But Maki craved a different reality, she sought out a different dream. She wanted to heal, to be a Nishikino healer and work under the command of her father until he passed on and she could take over. But she was the only daughter of the Nishikino house, the only daughter her parents had wanted, and the one they were destined to give away.

Umi's lips moved down to her neck and she littered kisses all around, Maki tilting her head back obediently. She had been told by her father that the wedding night may be unpleasant, but she just had to try her best to give her all to her new wife. She hated the feeling of helplessness that crept up her spine, but she allowed her head to tilt back and expose more of the flesh of her neck to the heir, who kissed down to her collarbone, hand moving to the hem of her dress, creeping up her leg until-

Suddenly, the heir stopped. She moved her hand away from Maki's thigh and removed her lips from her collarbone, returning to her original position of just looming over the crimson-haired girl. Then, she rolled over to face the same way she'd been lying before.

"Goodnight, Maki."

Maki lay in confusion, her heart thumping with fear. _What was that?_ Umi had... stopped? And gone to sleep? Maki was torn between feeling happy that she didn't have to go through the consummation process, but she feared for her life. She had heard of marriages where the couple had been executed for not consummating their marriage, or the way that people married, didn't consummate then were split apart. Maki could imagine the look of disappointment on her parents' faces as they watched her and Umi be separated. She didn't want to disappoint. But Umi had turned away and there was no way in hell Maki was initiating something like that hell again. So she closed her eyes, her brows furrowed, and forced herself to respond to the heir.

"Goodnight, Umi."

Sleep rose from its bottomless pit and entangled itself around Maki, dragging her down further and further into the depths of unconsciousness until her hold on reality slipped away and she felt herself helplessly grow limp, and she descended into the realm of sleep, anxiety still prominent in her mind and her heart thumping, _thumping_ with nerves and _thumping_ with terror for if they knew the next day.

Nevertheless, she slept.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone got the reference in the chapter title i will love u forever ok
> 
> kudos and comments are always appreciated! it took a whole week to finish this chapter, so i apologise!! but i'm hoping the quality is good :)


	7. Cross Your Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin meets a strange companion in the forest, leading to a discovery - meanwhile, Umi reflects on her relationship with her parents, and ponders on the events to come involving the war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if anyone saw that I published this early, I forgot to wait for the art to be complete before I published xD
> 
> Anyway, the art in this chapter is done by my amazing talented sister! Go follow her @ https://hanayno.tumblr.com and be sure to check out more of her art :)

The black cloak gave almost too much warmth in the cold of night, yet she still wrapped it around herself tightly, the smell of the Minami throne room keeping the memory of her reunition with Hanayo clear in her mind. She approached the forest on a shaky path, breathing the freezing air in and exhaling visible breath. Looking up at the trees, Rin heard the faint sound of creatures from within the woods, and contemplated on what she was doing - escaping into the forest by the Minami kingdom with no idea on where she was going whilst she was still a criminal on death row in the kingdom. Rin knew she couldn't go back to see Hanayo one last time, not when if she was even sighted in the kingdom she'd be arrested and executed without a chance to say goodbye.

She felt pathetic. It was her duty to commit suicide if she was ever captured, and instead she stayed alive long enough to be aided in her escape by none other than the princess herself and her childhood friend she had really wanted to catch up with. But she knew that Hanayo and Kotori had saved her in a way no one had ever saved her before, and she owed them her life for that.

She sighed. _I hate owing people._

The forest didn't look very inviting, with the way the darkness got more and more intense before the end of the path looked pitch black, but Rin was very much aware of the fact that she had nowhere else to go. No other direction to venture in - every other direction led to somewhere in the Minami kingdom and it was pretty obvious why she wouldn't be able to go _there_. And she didn't exactly feel like swimming to safety either, so the docks weren't an option either. No, the only escape route was through the forest and past the border, which didn't worry Rin too much; after all, she was an expert on sneaking past places undiscovered - what _did_ worry her was what came after her leaving the kingdom. She would be stranded in the forest with no food or supplies, no way of defending herself... nothing.

She passed the border with ease, sneaking past the tired guards who weren't really paying attention in the first place. It wouldn't have taken much effort to knock them unconscious and walk through directly, but Rin didn't want to cause any kind of scene - besides, the guards would be witnesses upon waking up, and would have known that Rin had left the kingdom via that exit. For all the Queen knew, she could have escaped by ship or could be hiding in the village. Picking up the pace, she pulled up the hood of the cloak further over her face, ginger hair easily spottable from underneath the black of the fabric covering her. In that moment, the girl cursed at herself for being born with such bright hair, and continued onwards, wondering if anything would change from the usual bushes and trees and the occasional twig.

Little did she know just how much they would.

It started with a rustle in the bushes - suspicion grabbed her, and she turned around and looked out to see any signs of movement. But there was none. The rustle had been audible from behind her, and she realised she had no knife to pull and make herself feel more secure. She was completely at the mercy of whoever this was, but she didn't even know _where_ the person was.

"Show yourself, whoever you are," she said, refusing to let her voice waver as she spoke. She heard the rustle again, and this time she barely had time to turn around before she had been pinned to the ground, a dark figure looming above her.

Once she got over the initial shock of hitting the ground so hard, she got a proper look at the person who had pinned her down. Red eyes stared into her own viciously, and the girl looked to be no older than fourteen, with black hair tied into high twin-tails and secured with pretty orange pins in the shape of a flower on either side. She wore what appeared to be a pink outfit similar to Rin's own outfit in terms of style, leading her to believe that she was a spy of some sort. Rin wondered what such a young girl was doing in the forest alone creeping up on people, but didn't have time to ask before the black-haired girl pulled a knife and pressed it against her neck.

"Who are you, and what is your business here?" she asked in a threatening voice - it almost made Rin laugh, because the girl looked and sounded like a child but was holding a knife to her neck. It was a pretty laughable situation; after all, it wasn't the first time she'd had a blade pulled on her.

"I'm from Otonokizaka Kingdom, and I have no idea why I'm here."

The girl seemed to relax slightly at the sound of Otonokizaka - must be on one of the sides, Minami or Sonoda. Perhaps she was a Sonoda and believed Rin to be a Minami, or the other way around, but now that she knew the girl was from the neutral kingdom she wasn't so angry-looking. Though she kept the blade to her neck, just in case Rin was bluffing; Rin knew exactly how it worked when you were threatening someone, or interrogating someone. They could easily be telling lies, though the more you scared them, the more willing they were to talk.

"Name," the girl demanded.

"How old are you, even?" Rin questioned, her voice light-hearted.

"I said, give me your _name_." The black-haired girl was almost growling now.

"Calm down. I'm Hoshizora Rin."

The girl narrowed her eyes and slowly released the knife, standing up. Rin got up herself, brushing the dirt off her back and looking at the girl opposite her. "So, what's your name? Kingdom? Reason for being here? You're not the only one who has the ability to ask annoying questions, you know."

"Yazawa Nico," the girl said calmly. "Sonoda kingdom. I'm here because I'm on a mission, and I was hoping I'd be able to capture a Minami tonight." She sighed. "Clearly not, though. Awfully sorry for the inconvenience. I mean, I could have killed you, but I'm feeling pretty merciful today."

"Don't flatter yourself, Yazawa," Rin laughed. "You can't be older than fourteen."

"How many times do I have to tell people that I'm _eighteen_ years old?!"

Rin paused. And blinked. And then squeaked. "Y-Y-You're _eighteen_?!"

"What, you sayin' I look like a kid to you or somethin'? Hey? _Hey!_ "

Rin was in shock. The girl was slightly shorter than her, but Rin had always been on the shorter side, and had the body and face of a young girl. There was no way she was eighteen. She didn't trust this girl one bit.

"Whatever you say, kid," she responded, ignoring Nico's scowl. "So, you need help in capturing a Minami, I need help in escaping from the Minamis. Looks like we've crossed paths at a rather unfortunate stage in our journeys."

"Why are you escaping from the Minamis?"

"I'm supposed to be on death row. Execution was being scheduled, but I escaped." _With some help._ "Now I'm on the run, and I have no clue where I'm going." She tilted her head to the side and looked Nico over. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be able to help me, would you?"

Nico scoffed. "Help you? No way in hell."

"But what if..." Rin swept forward and swiped the knife from Nico's hand while she was distracted, and pinned her down in a similar style to how Nico had done it to her previously, pressing the blade to her throat, "...you had no choice?"

The other girl looked furious at having been tricked, and glared up at Rin. "You're real persistent, aren't you? Release me right now."

"Only if you keep up your end of the deal."

"Fine."

Rin released the girl and stood, Nico standing as well and, like Rin had been moments ago, brushed the dirt off from her.

"Well, this is a burden for me now, I hope you realise," Nico said with a frown. "Not only am I working on capturing a Minami, but I'm also being forced to take care of a criminal escaping the Minamis. I don't know how you expect me to get on with what _I_ was trying to do when you're making me carry you around with me." She eyed the knife glinting in Rin's hand, her tone of voice slowly growing less ferocious. "I honestly wonder how valuable my life is that I'm going to all this effort to stop you from stabbing me. Like anyone will really care if I die, anyway."

"I've had that same feeling," Rin said, speaking genuine words; she related to Nico with what she said. "I'm sorry for the _inconvenience_ , Nico, but I really need to get away from here. Like you, I'm trying to save my own life as well. But it's not that I don't know why - just moments ago, my life was granted to me by others, two girls who helped me escape the kingdom, and I guess you could say the only reason I'm alive now and not dead in a cell is because they had the kindness in their hearts to help me." She shrugged. "Just a thought, but maybe you're living because recently someone's given you a reason to."

Nico furrowed her brows. "Someone giving me a reason to live? Like that's ever happened. Most the people I see on a daily basis are expected to die within a few months, considering I'm in that part of the Yazawa gang where we're constantly engaging in knife fights. Other than that, who could I say would give me a reason to live? The only decent conversation I've had in the past few weeks is..." She paused.

"Ah, looks like you're realising something," Rin said.

"I-It's nothing. Just a healer after a knife fight. She was taking care of the wound on my arm." She drew Rin's attention to the bandage wrapped around her right arm, which had bloodstains on it - a pretty nasty wound. "We had a conversation because it took ages to clean the wound and such. Nothing worth living for, though; I mean, I'll never see her again. And Nishikino healers are trained to talk to their patients while they're taking care of them, to distract them from the pain or whatever. She won't even remember my face, I bet you it." If Rin hadn't been paying such close attention, she wouldn't have noticed the way Nico's fists clenched or her brows furrowed further.

"I see," Rin said. "I've never really had a healer talk to me much. Then again, healers at Otonokizaka aren't the friendliest. They get so many people visiting them every day with various wounds they're like moving corpses later at night, which is when I usually go to get patched up."

Nico cocked her head to the side. "What are you, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, a knight? Spy? You're clearly able to fight, and you didn't show fear when I had the knife to your neck, which leads me to believe you've been in such a situation yourself before. So what is it? You're in your right mind to tell me, considering I'm giving you shelter for the night."

"I'm a member of the Otonokizaka mafia," Rin deadpanned, not surprised at the look Nico gave her.

"The _mafia_? What kind of mafia member gets captured and put on death row?"

"A reckless one," Rin replied with a light laugh. "I was too careless, slit a guy's throat right off the bat and was too eager for the mission to end. Then the guards got in and arrested us and I was sent back to the Minami kingdom for some reason. Must have been an order from the Queen, which is odd, considering Otonokizaka is neutral in this war. I'll never know, and I don't intend on going back to find out."

Nico hummed and nodded. "Well, at least we have one thing in common; neither of us are in the Minami kingdom's good books." She smirked. "So, why don't we cause some havoc?"

"Can't go back into the kingdom."

"Never said we had to be in the kingdom."

Rin shot her a curious look, which was ignored as Nico turned and began to walk. "We'll go back to the place I've been camping at since yesterday. I have some spare weapons there, but if you try anything, you won't be getting shelter or revenge on the Minamis. You can choose a weapon there and we'll head back here and put our plan into action. Don't worry, I know this part of the woods off by heart. I come here often to check out what's going on at the border. Hey, you know the guards they put on duty there are getting stronger? Like, tonight's guards looked exhausted, so they'll probably be fired or something; but they're improving security around here. Looks like I'll be getting a pigeon sent to my camp later with news of an attack. There's already talk of one soon. They're looking to target the castle directly."

Rin froze. "They're targeting the castle?"

"Yeah. In particular, the princess. You know, the pretty one with the long hair and the nice eyes. I can't remember her name."

 _Shit_. "Princess Kotori?"

"Yeah." Nico eyed her. "You look shocked."

Rin covered up her moment of shock with a shrug. "It's just, because I'm from Otonokizaka, I don't really hear what's going on until after it's happened. It's just... weird to know that the place I was just running from is gonna be under attack in a few days. Or whenever they're planning on attacking."

"You didn't hear it from me, but they say it's gonna happen the day after tomorrow. On the full moon; honestly, it's like the Sonodas are turning into Toujous with how superstitious they're being lately. But they believe that the full moon will bring us luck in the fight. And, of course, I'm going to be fighting there too. Which is precisely why I need to get back home tomorrow, so whatever you're doing better be quick."

"If possible, I'd like to make it somewhere I can live safely. Otonokizaka is a bit risky, Minami is completely off-limits, and... well, the Sonoda kingdom sounds dangerous as well."

"There are other kingdoms."

"I can't travel _too_ far."

"Listen, come to the Sonoda kingdom. We could use your skills."

 _The Sonoda kingdom._ Rin thought about what would happen if she fought alongside the Sonodas. For one, she'd be betraying Hanayo - she wouldn't be able to save her without being executed for being a traitor, and then they'd kill Hanayo in the end anyway. Not only Hanayo would be betrayed, though; Kotori would too, the girl who went out of her way to save a criminal she didn't even know. No, the princess and her handmaiden were far too kind-hearted for her to betray - Rin had always been a sucker for pure, kind souls, even though her own was tainted long ago.

"I don't know if I'd want to fight for the Sonodas," Rin admitted. "Truth be told, I don't want to fight for them."

"Why not? We're in need of someone like you. Our good fighters are dropping off left, right and centre because they're always placed in the part of the formation where they'd have to fight the most."

"So you're putting me up there like an animal for slaughter, huh? Nice to know my life is of value to you Yazawa folk."

"Nobody gives a shit about anyone's life here anymore. Sad, sure, but it's the truth."

"Yeah, and the truth doesn't exactly make the Sonoda kingdom sound very appealing, sweetheart."

"Whatever. Look, we're here."

The camp was small, room enough for one person - they'd have to cuddle together at night, which made Rin pretty uncomfortable - and there was a pile of wood for a fire out in front of it. Some tall sticks had been jammed into the ground so that a blanket could go over with some cushions and blankets inside to make it comfortable. It didn't look like it'd be very warm to sleep in, but it was some kind of shelter - if they kept the fire going, maybe they'd be able to get some warmth. There were an array of weapons laid out on a large tree stump a few feet away from the camp, and Rin immediately spotted a sharp knife that would serve her just fine in a fight. She wandered over and picked it up, checking the end of the blade to see how sharp it was. She lightly traced her finger over the point and when she withdrew, she saw blood. _Perfect. It's been sharpened._ She turned back to Nico.

"Your ways of testing weapons for sharpness really is peculiar," the black-haired girl commented, but didn't make any further comments, instead kneeling down in front of the pile of wood and taking something from nearby which, upon closer look, Rin found to be a knife sharpener. She began sharpening, back turned to the other girl, who took the opportunity to snoop around the camp.

There wasn't really much to see, except for a satchel, which would probably be risky to go for considering it wasn't very far from where Nico was sat. But Rin was a master in subtlety, and snuck towards the satchel, unclasping it and looking inside. There was a vial of some kind of liquid, a pouch of coins, some rope and a bunch of berries which Rin knew to be poisonous. If she planned on tricking her with them, it wouldn't work, that was for sure; but if the berries had been there before Rin had arrived, Nico must have had some other purpose for the lethal fruit.

She crept away from the satchel and retreated within the camp, resting on the blankets and staring up at the 'roof' of the shelter. It was... comfortable, strangely enough. The blankets warmed her up fairly easily as night settled in, and Rin wondered what Nico had in mind for the two of them. She mentioned something about getting revenge on the Minami kingdom; however, she was uncertain if she really did want revenge. She just wanted to escape.

But Nico had looked pretty enthusiastic when she mentioned revenge, and Rin had time to spare, so she figured she'd go along with the Yazawa spy and see what she had in store, then return to the camp and get some rest at last.

Nico finished up her knife-sharpening and called for Rin to leave the shelter. The girls tucked their knives into their belts and Nico swung her own cloak over her shoulders, pulling the hood up over her face. The hood of Rin's cloak had fallen back when she'd landed on the ground under Nico, so she did the same, making sure the knife was concealed and no one could see the silvery glint when it hit the light. They set off, back the same route they'd come from the clearing they'd met in, and along the way Rin looked down to find the blood on her finger from when she tested the knife. She brought it up to her lips and licked off the blood, earning a look from Nico which was responded to with raised eyebrows. Finally, they made it closer to the border and Nico beckoned her into a hiding place, pulling her hood further over her face.

"We're going to target them," she said, pointing to the guards on duty at the border, who were having a conversation with one another.

"What a revenge plan," Rin said in a monotone voice.

"H-Hey! I'll have you know I'm often left in charge of strategy back home," Nico said, smug and proud, her sudden movement rustling the bushes slightly and causing the guards to turn their heads.

"Who goes there?" one called in a commanding tone, and the two girls ducked further.

"Look what you've done, Nico," Rin hissed.

"It's fine, it's fine. This is all going according to plan."

"You sure about that?"

"Yep!"

"...What even is the plan?"

"We're gonna jump them, I'm gonna capture one and you can do whatever you like to the other. Two birds in one stone - I get my captured Minami, you get your revenge, we go and find somewhere for you to stay in the Sonoda kingdom."

Frowning, Rin drew the knife from her belt. "Alright, then. I'll humour you for now."

"Let's go."

They snuck from the bushes, the guards having turned back around, and Nico stuck out her hand so that Rin could see from the corner of her eye. Both girls had their knives ready, and Nico put three fingers up, then two, then one, then clenched her hand into a fist and that was the cue. They charged forward, Nico going for the shorter guard so she could wrap her arm around his neck, pressing the blade to his throat, and Rin could swiftly stab the taller one in the back and watch him fall to the ground.

"Don't make any funny moves, and you might just keep your life," Nico said in a low voice, and Rin pressed her foot against the deep wound in the other guard's back. The guard who had the blade against his neck stared in horror at his friend, and his hand reached for his sword, ready to draw it.

Rin knew what to do, and by the way Nico was unmoving and didn't react, she trusted her to do it. Rin could have left her there, let the guard kill her, but she knew that she needed Nico on her side to be able to do what she needed to. She ran towards the other guard and grabbed the sword, pulling it away from him and moving backwards as the man reached a hand out to try and retrieve it. Nico gave a triumphant smirk as she pressed the knife down a little, just enough to draw some blood but not injure him. Rin knew how it went - soon the man would comply, Nico would capture him and they'd head off to the Sonoda kingdom once the sun rose. She didn't realise that Nico had brought the satchel with her until she pulled her cloak back slightly, keeping her other arm around the man's neck and pointed to the bag.

"Rin, pass me the rope," she instructed, and Rin followed, grabbing the rope from within the satchel and handing it to Nico.

"We're capturing you, Minami. Stay still - you're weaponless, we're armed, so don't try anything."

The guard understood his place, so stayed quiet and still as Nico worked on tying him until he wasn't able to escape, but could still walk. "Let's head back," she said to Rin, who nodded in agreement, and they began the walk back to the camp in silence, the man's heavy breathing slowly subsiding as he accepted his fate.

Once back at the camp, Rin stayed next to the guard to make sure he didn't escape while Nico worked on expanding the camp to make room for all of them. She moved the sticks further out and sacrificed one blanket to make sure everything was covered in case of rain. Once that was done, the three of them settled down in the shelter, the guard between the two girls, tied down to the ground to prevent escape. There was a lot more room after the expansion, so Rin's dread of having to _cuddle_ with Nico was rid of. Now all she had to do was get to sleep and wait till morning, when she'd have to submit to her worry of where she was going to go once more. Nico had said for her to join her in the Sonoda kingdom, but Rin couldn't do it. She couldn't betray Hanayo... could she? She didn't have to fight, she just needed somewhere to stay. Besides, she was an enemy of the Minami kingdom now, and that was something she definitely had in common with the Sonodas.

The more she thought about it, the more the idea appealed to her - and that was what terrified her.

She thought back to what Nico said previously, about the attack, when her eyes widened and she sat up. Nico turned, glaring at her. "What is it?" she mumbled in her tired state, and Rin looked back at her in desperation.

"Could I possibly send a pigeon to someone?"

"What for?"

"To Otonokizaka. There is someone I need to confirm my safety to."

Nico rolled her eyes. "Sure thing, lover-girl. There's parchment in that spare satchel by the tree stump, and ink and a quill. The whistle's in there too."

"Thank you." She bowed her head and crawled out of the shelter, towards the stump, finding the satchel she'd missed earlier resting against it. She pulled out some parchment and the writing equipment, leaned over and, the best she could in the darkness, scribbled out a message.

_Kotori,_

_Sonodas are attacking in two days. Keep Hanayo safe. Accept this warning as a token of my thanks._

_R_

She folded up the parchment and found a rosy pink whistle in the satchel, blowing on it and waiting. The pigeon flew towards her and she tucked the letter onto its claws, wondering how the pigeon would navigate its way to the Minami kingdom. Then again, if Nico told her she'd be able to send one, she trusted it would work. And if it didn't... she'd merely have to pray for Hanayo's safety. She released the bird and it flew off, in the direction of the Minami kingdom. Rin's eyes widened. How did it know?

She didn't have time for questions. Too much had happened that day to comprehend, so she instead turned and headed back into the shelter to where she was lying before, and heard Nico's snores from beside her.

With a sigh, Rin turned on her side, facing away from Nico and their victim, staring at the blanket between her and the outside world. It was checked, blue and white, like the colours of the Sonoda kingdom. A dark navy blue. Rin couldn't say blue was her favourite colour, but she'd have to get used to it once she entered the Sonoda kingdom, as their kingdom's colour was navy blue. Even the heir to the throne (for some reason, no one ever called her a princess) had navy blue hair, so dark it could almost be considered black, and most people called it black. Rin had seen Sonoda Umi once, when she visited Otonokizaka and stood before the square with a speech on the war, and it was a very sunny day, the light hitting her head and showing the kingdom of Otonokizaka that it really was navy blue.

She wondered if she'd see that girl again in the kingdom; she had reached the age where she was probably engaged or married. There were rumours of an arranged marriage in Otonokizaka, but as it wasn't including anyone from their kingdom, the gossip never really made it out of the mafia headquarters' lounge room. Yes, there was a lounge room. No, Rin did not use it often.

Her mind traced back to Hanayo, her bright face, the face that had matured so much since childhood yet kept its innocent, pure glow - the princess, whose hair looked even more beautiful in real life than in mere paintings; Rin had seen her as a child too, usually standing beside her mother or staring from out the castle windows. She always felt bad for the princess, considering she was never able to go outside and play like the other kids, and instead gazed wistfully out the window. Rin had always wondered what the princess did to pass the time, day in and day out - she knew that Kotori wasn't taught to fight, because the Minami kingdom had always focused more on peace than war. _How ironic_. And it was now the Minamis who were involved in one of the most severe wars ever.

Her mind filled with her reunition with Hanayo and her escape from the Minami kingdom, her eyes fluttered closed - she didn't know when, but somewhere along the line she drifted, drifted off into a sleep that would be as dull and dreamless as her future appeared.

~~~

It was a day like any other, yet a feeling of uneasiness settled over the Sonoda heir's stomach as she pulled back the string of the bow, aiming for the bullseye of the target metres in front. The sound, the atmosphere, it was exactly the same as it always was; the sound of horses whinnying and the clip-clop of their hooves against the ground, the sound of servants calling to one another and working on the Sonoda gardens, and behind where Umi stood was her archery instructor, who was writing on some parchment. The letter she was signing looked like it was of importance, and she had been working on it since Umi arrived - when her arrival wasn't acknowledged, the heir decided it was in her best mind not to disturb the woman as she wrote.

She released the string and the arrow flew, making its home in the centre of the target. Placing the bow down next to her, she untied her hair from the loose braid it was in to keep it out the way, navy locks falling from the braid and around her face. The sunlight that hit her hair caused it to look more blue than black, which drew attention from a lot of servants around who had never seen the heir's hair that colour; she didn't really like the attention, but at least it didn't go any further than stares and the odd compliment. For the most part, she looked too threatening for people to approach her.

A brief moment passed where she wondered what Maki was doing. The two had been married the previous day, but after the night of their assumed consummation, they hadn't seen much of each other. Umi had woken in the morning to find Maki still asleep, and had risen, gotten ready for the day and headed out before the red-headed girl could wake. Since then, she hadn't needed to or really wanted to see her; the awkwardness of the prior night was still clear in her mind, and she wondered what had gotten into her that made her refuse to commit the act. After all, if it was discovered that they did not consummate their marriage, there was no telling what the King and Queen would do - they didn't exactly hold a parental love for the heir, and acted a lot more professional to her, treating her as a client rather than a daughter. It was why she didn't understand the bond some children had with their parents, when she had never been shown the love other children had. Instead, her parents kept her busy all day, every day since she had learned to walk, whether it was archery, calligraphy, swordfighting - they put her in countless lessons to learn the skills she needed if she was ever going to fight for the kingdom someday, or make a worthy queen when they passed.

The idea of becoming a queen didn't appeal to her at all; her parents were doing a good job themselves, keeping the kingdom protected in the time of war, but it left them at high risk. They were well aware that out there, somewhere, there must be some people plotting an assassination, and Umi was more terrified of stepping up to rule rather than the idea of being without her parents. She hardly knew them, rarely saw them, and that dinner with Maki was the first one she'd shared with them in months. The only time they saw fit to talk to her was when they were discussing business, and otherwise, when it came to Umi's personal life or emotions, they couldn't find a way to care. They never made time for their daughter.

Eventually, Umi had found solace in one of the activities they had forced upon her - archery. It was therapeutic in its own way, the soft breeze, locating the centre of the target and aiming the arrow based on the wind direction and strength, analysing where to send the arrow to in order for it to hit the centre. Over time, Umi found herself anticipating her archery lessons and enjoying them; her instructor taught her everything she knew, and over the course of her childhood and into her teens the heir mastered archery. Of course, if the King and Queen were proud, they didn't show it - Umi doubted they even bothered listening to a report about her progress in archery. As long as she could fight and was powerful and attractive like them, they didn't care. She had hoped that she could marry someone who did care, but Maki had made no effort to show her caring for her, and Umi didn't blame her; she wasn't the best person to be engaged to, and she just didn't know what to say to the stranger she'd been arranged to marry. Though they'd have to share quarters now, and stand by one another's side during speeches or walks through town, and Umi would have to escort Maki to where she wanted to go if the heir granted permission. It was sickening, how her wife would not be permitted to leave the castle without first being allowed to by the heir; if she could do anything to change it, she would, but she had no other choice.

It was at that moment, leaving the archery station and strolling through the grounds, that Umi realised she had nothing planned for a couple of hours. Usually when she was left with free time (which was rarely) she'd be content practicing archery until her next event on her schedule, but she had far too much on her mind to consistently shoot straight - and, honestly, she just felt like a nuisance to the woman slaving away at her desk behind Umi.

The heir made her way back inside, the heat having made her head a little lighter, and wandered aimlessly through a few corridors before turning a corner to see a familiar girl with rosy hair approaching towards her, her own eyes lighting up in recognition upon seeing the heir.

"O-Oh..." Maki's voice trailed off, probably remembering the previous night. Umi mentally cursed herself for the barrier she'd created between them.

"Good afternoon, Maki," Umi spoke, using the polite tone which had been one of the few things her mother had taught her. "It's a wonderful day outside; a little too hot, however. Would you like to take a walk, or are you busy?"

Taken aback by the way Umi was suddenly speaking to her, Maki nodded. "I didn't really have anything to do today. I was more aimlessly walking around the castle in search of something to do."

"Yes, it can get rather dull here. I'm usually busy with something else, so I rarely experience boredom when I'm moving around so quickly."

"Oh, am I interrupting you on your way to another-"

"No, no, I found myself with a little free time today. Now, let's walk."

They walked in silence for a few moments, Umi taking in how Maki had her hands in front of her stomach as she walked, looking very formal and almost bashful, head bowed slightly and hair falling over her face. She hadn't seen her spouse with her hair down, she realised; it suited the girl, although it also looked nice tied to the side as well. The colour was sweet - not dark enough to be called red, but not light enough to be called pink. She didn't know whether to call it rose or strawberry, but nevertheless, it was between the two colours; as the heir of the Sonoda throne, however, which hung its flag proud and blue, the colour of her spouse's hair opposed the colour of her kingdom in quite an intense contrast. Then again, it was a breath of fresh air - she had inherited her navy blue hair from her mother, whose hair was a shade or so lighter, and got the darkness from her black-haired father. She didn't believe she'd ever seen a colour quite like Maki's on somebody's head, which was a shame; the colour really was pretty.

A slightly less awkward silence fell over them, until Maki turned to face her spouse with a scared expression, fingers entwining together in what could only be a nervous twitch. She raised her voice, closing the silence between them - "May I request permission to leave the castle today?"

 _This soon_? Umi knew the girl would want to leave eventually; after all, the castle wasn't the best source of entertainment, but she didn't expect the girl to so boldly request such a thing on the first full day of their marriage. Nevertheless, she bowed her head in a nod, not wanting to rob the girl of time to herself, and she saw the relieved expression the other girl donned after she confirmed it. Maki bowed and muttered a "Thank you," before awaiting Umi's next words, surely wanting details on how to leave the castle.

"You can leave via the front of the castle. I shall have Sachiko prepare a carriage for you. Tell her where you wish to go, and she will take you there. However, be back by the evening, as my parents may request to dine together." Maki nodded and turned, offering a smile of gratefulness before leaving to the entrance.

Umi tilted her head back and sighed, looking out the arched windows at the cloudless sky. The pressure on the kingdom was building up, and she often found her parents stood at tactical maps, brows furrowed and gazes intense as they worked out battle plans. She knew of the impending attack they were planning on the Minami kingdom - it was to be aimed directly at the castle, and would take the Minamis by surprise. It would take time for them to round up their armies, and the intention was to capture the princess to use to bait the Minamis to surrender. The only thing Umi knew about the princess was that she was around her age, which made the whole ordeal seem much worse in her mind when she considered it. In another life, if there hadn't been a war going on, the princess could have been Umi's wife, as part of a political marriage between the Sonodas and Minamis. However, because of the war, they downgraded to a Nishikino spouse for the heir - keeping it in the kingdom, and marrying her off to a noble rather than a royal.

Teams of Yazawa soldiers had been gathered around the barracks for days, training in preparation for the attack; occasionally, Umi would visit them, as she was in touch with quite a few Yazawas and wished to catch up on their progress. The attack was a big deal to the kingdom, as if all went successfully, it could lead to the end of the war with a Sonoda victory. However, it would be difficult to operate, and they'd need a lot of soldiers, considering the losses would be high.

Normally Umi would not be bothered by a typical attack, but this time they were going all out. The King and Queen would be present at the battle, leading the army, as would she, the heir herself. She had been involved in minor battles before, but she had never killed a person, nor had she severely injured anyone. She was capable enough to do so, her sword-fighting lessons since she was a child proving her very much worthy, but she had never seen the opportunity. There had been times where she could have killed someone, but she never saw the point of murdering without reason - unlike the bloodthirsty Yazawas, who yearned to kill and torture however many innocents they could. She supposed that was what set apart the Sonodas from the Yazawas; Sonodas were all about honorable fighting, whereas Yazawas were fast and merciless in their fighting, and aimed to kill.

She found herself at the throne room, a place open to the public (if you were of a high enough rank), and eyes turned to her as she entered, seeing the Queen seated upon the throne and involved in a heated argument with one of her subjects. Umi approached the pair, and upon seeing her, the Queen dismissed the subject and stared expectantly at her daughter.

"Good afternoon, Umi," she said, using the same formal tone she used for nobles. "I assume the marriage has been consummated?"

Her throat dry, she couldn't muster up the strength to lie and say yes, so she offered a small nod.

"Perfect. That way we won't run into any difficulties." Her face softened slightly. "I am very proud of you, Umi. I hope you keep that in mind. You have achieved impeccable results in your lessons, and your archery instructor tells me only good things of you. I've heard you bear quite the eagle eye, which is why I have a request for you."

She had stiffened as her mother spoke, surprised at the onslaught of praise; by the end of her speech, she knew just why she'd praised her so much. However, she had to obey her mother's orders, and she bowed her head.

"What is the request?"

"In the upcoming attack, you will join the archers for the first section. When the time comes to capture the princess, you will be helping them search, shooting _anyone_ who gets in the way. Understood?"

With a gulp, she nodded. Her mother's gaze was intense, focused, _power-hungry_. She couldn't refuse such an order, not from the Queen.

"Yes, Your Highness."

Her mother nodded and stepped down from the throne.

"Listen." Her eyes met her daughter's in a cold exchange. "I expect full effort from you in the battle. I do not want you to hold back. I want to see you at your full potential, so in future battles, we can place you in the _right_ section of the formation that you can adapt to. Understood?"

Without waiting for an answer, she turned, a breeze swooping past Umi as she flipped around, dress moving swiftly with the action, and walked towards her subject. A sudden wave of emotion fell over the heir, and she looked at the back of her mother walking from her. She didn't realise how bad the emotions were until she felt the hotness of a tear trickling down her cheek, and in a hushed, cracked voice, she spoke her final words before retreating to an afternoon of sword-fighting.

"Yes, Mother."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor umi ;-; she just wants to be loved
> 
> anyway, thank you for reading this!! we still have one more main character to introduce and one supporting character who y'all will recognise, as well as a battle ahead of us, so stay tuned <3 thank y'all for sticking with me through my infrequent updating!! feedback and advice is always appreciated, as i know i am not the best writer :-) see you soon!


	8. Prelude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maki runs into a familiar face, and Kotori reveals the truth to Eli.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the lack of updates! writer's block has been hitting me hard lately :') i wrote this in small sections over a long period of time, so hopefully it's decent lmao. as always i never proofread my works so the grammar is probably good but there may be some sentences which don't flow v well but maybe that's my over analytical mind lmao, i hope you enjoy!!

Rapid breathing broke through the silent, crisp forest air as she ran, clasping the hook on her belt for comfort with one hand and using the other to keep the cloak’s hood concealing her face. Her feet pattering against the floor and her sharp, quick breaths were the only sound aside from the chittering of night creatures and whistle of the wind by her ear. She knew there was only so far she could go before she needed to stop and take shelter, but anywhere was better than back there. _Anywhere_. Hell, she could have been running to the Minami kingdom and executed on the spot for being there, a Nishikino in Minami territory, but death was a sweeter concept than spending her life trapped in a castle keeping her caged and locked, bound and unable to fulfil her desires.

A few strands of watermelon red locks clung to her lips and she paused to catch her breath, a pale hand shooting out to slam against a nearby tree, clasping onto the bark for dear life as her knees threatened to give way beneath her. As the adrenaline wore off, she became more tired, stumbling towards where her hand tried to keep her upright until her forehead hit the bark as well. Her consciousness faded in an out – she tasted blood, the metallic taste keeping her grounded from fading away entirely, and she forced herself to her feet before hearing a sound behind her, and what sounded like murmuring voices.

 _How far have I gone?_ That was the only comprehensible thought in her conscious at that moment, and she stumbled slightly as she turned towards the voices, keeping the hood over her head with one hand and gulping down a mouthful of blood, not resisting against it trickling down her chin.

“Well, what do we have here?”

A familiar voice. She clung onto it, as she collapsed to the ground, not in a particularly dramatic or elegant way; she stumbled, then her hand hit the ground, dirt rubbing into the wounds already created from the wood of the tree. She’d been foolish, _foolish_ , that was all she thought as she felt a hand tugging on her hood and pulling back the cloak and a sound of recognition and then…

She couldn’t remember after that.

But she woke up, nevertheless, anywhere from a few hours to a few days later, in a camp-out in the forest. A ginger-haired girl was chewing at some food, perched on a tree stump, and a darker haired girl who looked almost familiar in the hazy morning sunlight was sharpening a knife in the corner of her vision. Head throbbing, she lifted her body up, still tasting blood in her mouth. The black-haired girl turned in acknowledgment at her, and she realised where she knew her from.

“Who would’ve thought a Nishikino healer wouldn’t even know how to take care of herself, huh?” the girl she patched up just a couple of weeks ago – _it seemed like only yesterday I was free_ – said, a slight smirk playing on her lips. Maki scowled, not liking the patronising tone the other girl held.

“Yazawa Nico.” Her eyes trailed down to the bandage around her arm. “I see your arm is still recovering. Do you still consider it a ‘pathetic cut’?”

“This?” Nico gestured towards her arm. “This is nothin’. Ya wanna see some of the injuries Dad’s friends come to the medical bay with. One dude got his leg ripped clean off by this super buff Koizumi guy. Don’t wanna mess with ’em, the Koizumi ninjas. They go hard in battle.”

“Mama always taught me to be scared of Koizumis and Yazawas, and even more scared when the two were in close proximity,” Maki stated bluntly. “You and your dad’s people are just as barbaric as them. I’m sure some of them have taken as many limbs and lives as that Koizumi man.”

“Always the pacifist, I see.” Nico rolled her eyes. “I don’t get all ya Nishikino lasses with your morals and dignified manners of speakin’. We’ve got a fuckin’ war on our hands, no time t’be playin’ the better man in this scenario. People get killed, people do the killin’. What really defines ya is how ya react to it. I’ve seen people die, right in front of me, people my dad knew and everythin’. I’ve seen him mourn his friends and fallen comrades, but he’s always gotten right back up and kept fightin’. And he told me to do just the same. Keep fightin’, never let in, cause you’re only weak if ya let ’em win.”

The disturbing rhyme caused Maki to screw her nose up slightly before responding. “I’m well aware that the war is thriving, and that is why I dreamed to become a healer, so I could help the wounded. But that doesn’t make the concept of war any less ridiculous. I know you Yazawas have your pride, as do the Sonodas and pretty much any influential family these days. I know my people have a lot of pride in themselves and what they do, and of course we should, we’re extremely talented in our own fields. But…” She shook her head. “I don’t understand it.”

“You don’t understand anythin’, from the looks of it,” Nico snaps back. “Ya act so pure and innocent, like ya don’t do nothin’ wrong yourself.”

“I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but at least I’ve never killed a man in cold blood!” she spat, eyes flared with anger and teeth grinding together, fists clenched by either side. Nico’s eyes flashed with a similar danger, and she looked down on Maki with an almost challenging expression.

“It ain’t cold blood. I ain’t doin’ this for no reason.” Her voice was quieter, calmer, but with an edge of danger. “They attacked us first. The Minamis made the first move. The Koizumis are dangerous and rotten creatures, as rotten as us. We’re all rotten in this god-forsaken world, and there’s nothin’ a small lil’ healer girl from the Nishikino house can do about it, no matter what connections her parents have.”

Those were the last words she said to her, the way she stood up and walked away signalling clearly that the conversation was over. Sharp tension cut through the air, and the ginger-haired girl, who had been watching the exchange in fascination, raised to her feet and dropped something next to Maki.

“Water. Drink up,” she ordered, and Maki did so, gratefully.

After she finished the water, she called out to the ginger-haired girl, who looked back at her expectantly.

“How long was I out?”

“A day.”

“And… where are we going?”

“Nico’s gonna take you with her, and I’m goin’ somewhere else. I have business to do.”

The girl buttoned her cloak, tugged up the hood and marched off.

~~~

The pigeon arrived at the crack of dawn, a chirruping outside her window causing Kotori to rise from her slumber, yawning sleepily and stretching out her arms. The dim gaze of the morning sun broke through her window and cast a light onto her bed in the way she loved, the way that reminded her of her childhood, all the times she woke up in this bed happy and innocent. Pulling back the curtains, she saw the pigeon had a note attached to its claw, a scruffily-folded, badly-attached note which looked as if it had been written in a hurry. Almost like a warning of…

… _danger_?

Normally gentle hands became rough as she untied the note from the unfamiliar pigeon’s claws, unwrapping the parchment, accidentally tearing the paper as she scrambled to read the note. As the words sunk into her mind, she could only think of one thing.

_Tomorrow. Tomorrow. It’s tomorrow, tomorrow._

She knew they’d attack. The Sonodas had been quiet for a while – of course, there was news that their heir had gotten married, and of _course_ , there was no way anyone would expect an attack mere days after a royal wedding. It was cleverly devised, and perfect timing; just as the security was a little looser, the guards were slacking off a little in the heating weather, everyone was taking it a little easier, and to think that if Rin hadn’t been there to hear the news, the whole kingdom would’ve been-

 _No._ Don’t think that. Never think that, because if you think that, you’ll keep thinking, and you won’t be able to _do_. _Act_. And so she acted, jumping up from her bed and racing into her handmaiden’s room, the olive-haired girl jumping in surprise at the sudden intruder, hand clasping the locket around her neck in some sort of protective manner.

“Hanayo, Hanayo, oh God- it’s happening, _Hanayo_ , they’re coming, they’re gonna… they’re gonna…” Muffled sobs choked out of the princess’s mouth as she buried her head in her handmaiden’s shoulders, finding arms wrapped around her immediately as the girl whispered to her gently, yet with a hint of panic.

“Kotori, what’s happening? Y-You… you don’t mean to say…”

“I got a… I got a pigeon from Rin.” Her voice wavered, but she choked the words out, pulling back to look Hanayo in the eye, seeing the flash of remembrance sparking in the lilac irises. “The Sonodas… _oh God_ , I don’t know how she found out, but they’re gonna attack, tomorrow.”

“T-Tomorrow?” Hanayo stumbled to get out of bed, leaving the princess to scramble to her feet herself. “We must alert the Queen at once! There’s no time to think!”

“How will I explain…” Kotori bowed her head in shame. “I-I let a criminal go… how can I explain to her?! How can I look her in the eyes and tell her I’ve done such a thing?!”

“We don’t need to,” Hanayo determined, already dressing herself rapidly. “All we need to do is hope she takes our word.”

“But she won’t,” Kotori retaliated, slumping in defeat. “My mother… she’s perceptive. She’ll notice something is awry…” She shook her head furiously, trying to knock or shake some sort of sense into it. “We need to go see Eli. Come on, let’s find her.”

Too dumbfounded to speak, Hanayo nodded and let the princess lead her away to search for Eli.

 

“Tomorrow?!”

Eli slammed her hands on the desk and rose from her seat immediately, causing Hanayo to flinch back and Kotori to tremble slightly.

“You received this tip-off from the supposedly escaped criminal, did you not?” Eli questioned after calming down a little, slowly lowering herself back onto the chair and placing her hands in a dignified manner in front of her on the desk. Kotori nodded, words unable to formulate in her mouth.

“Then we shall say it was an anonymous tip-off from one of my men,” she declared after a moment’s consideration, and Kotori felt herself sigh with relief. It was a blessing from the heavens to have Eli on her side, and she made a mental note to thank the blonde knight when this all blew over.

“Thank you, Ayase,” Kotori said, bowing her head in respect.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about, Your Highness,” the knight responded. “You may as well return to your quarters as I discuss things with Her Majesty. Your handmaiden should be there to take care of you should you need it, but I suggest you stay in there for a while. The castle will be bustling with people preparing for battle, and if it really is true that the Sonodas are attacking, we need to figure out a safe place for you to be guarded.”

In all the insanity, Kotori had forgotten about her own safety – yes, what would become of her if the Sonodas’ soldiers had reached her? She would have been taken prisoner, tortured, killed or worse. It had always been common of her to forget her own troubles in concern for others, and this was no exception. As Eli stood and left the room, Hanayo took Kotori’s hand gently and squeezed it to show she was there, beside her, supporting her. But how could she rely on a handmaiden to support her? She should be able to support herself, and yet she couldn’t. She knew that if she was in the midst of battle, she’d throw away her own safety to rescue others.

Hanayo led her back to her quarters and she sat and sewed, as if it was any normal sunny day, but with the thought lingering in the back of her mind that tomorrow, everything would descend into chaos. There would be blood and fighting and dead bodies and lists of names to carve into stone in the ever-growing Minami graveyards. These were all things that were certain when marching into battle, and yet it felt so unreal, so far away and distant – she knew the reality would settle in the next day, but for now, she didn’t know anything. There had been battles before, but they’d always been predictable battles – Kotori had been hidden, eyes shielded from the war in front of her, guards protecting her and the consequences of the battle never being fully disclosed to her. She knew Eli knew everything that went on, all the death tolls, the names, everything, but she never said anything to her either. Everyone wanted to contain her innocence, but everyone also knew there was no way they could do that forever.

As she stuck the needle through the fabric and winded the thread around it, she wondered if she’d ever be able to do this again. Casually sit by her window and sew, forgetting the hardship outside her home, forgetting the war, basking in her separation from it all. Now that she had become personally involved, having aided Rin in her escape and thus been given this information, she knew she could never see war the same way she did all her life – they planned an attack, and the other side planned their defence. That was how it worked, to her. Sneak attacks or spontaneous attacks were abstract concepts to her, and it filled her with a fear unlike anything she’d felt before.

She felt Hanayo leave her side after a while, the door shutting gently behind her, and anxiety sparked in her heart as she realised she was alone. She had her handmaiden to carry out tasks for her and give her advice, she had guards to physically protect her, and she had her mother to order people to protect her. But in the end, when it came to her own safety, she was alone, because there was no point in others protecting her when she couldn’t even protect herself to begin with. She was careless, and let Rin escape due to the kindness of her heart and the look on her handmaiden’s face. Had she been discovered as the aid in her escape, she had no idea what her mother would have done. Most likely had Hanayo executed, then sent out spies to find Rin and have her killed as well, maybe even the two together. She could not deal with being responsible for something like that, and yet she did it without thinking, because it seemed like the right thing to do. She knew the risks, but kept them in the back of her mind, and she was sure Hanayo knew them too.

Slowly setting down the needle and thread, the princess shoved her sewing items away so that she could lay her head on the desk, feeling tears spill over her lashes and trickle down her cheek as she began to cry for the second time that day, tears turning to choked sobs turning to muffled wailing into the desk.

The birds stopped singing, and flew away.

 

Trembling hands fiddled at her hair, twisting and turning strands into a side-braid, the long locks occasionally tangling and forcing her handmaiden to unwind a few more inches and try again. After about half an hour of struggling, she tied the ribbon around the end of the braid and stood back to admire her handiwork. The side braid looked as common as the peasant’s clothes she wore, the only unorthodox thing about her being the angelic face and peculiar hair colour.

“You should blend in like this,” Hanayo said proudly.

“Thank you, Hanayo,” Kotori smiled, taking her side-braid between two fingers and examining it – it really was nicely done, for all the time she’d spent sitting on the stool in the middle of her quarters, watching Hanayo focus as she tried to get each bit perfect.

“You suit any kind of hairstyle, Your Highness,” Hanayo complimented, gazing wistfully at the long braid. “I’m kind of jealous.”

“Your hair is adorable as well, Hanayo!” Filled with determination to prevent her handmaiden’s self-consciousness, she spoke abruptly and loudly. “You can do so much with short hair. I’ve had long hair for as long as I can remember, and it’s awful to wash and take care of. And you can do so many styles as well…”

After chirruping to one another for a while about hair, avoiding the elephant in the room, the air between them became silent as both their thoughts drifted to the reality of the situation. It wasn’t long before a knock on the door brought them from their thinking, and a small girl with crimson twin-tails appeared in the doorway calling them to leave, and the sudden thought hit Kotori of _what if I never see this room again_?

She attempted to disguise her panic as she rose to her feet, but failed to stand properly, stumbling and grabbing onto the stool to keep herself upright. Hanayo’s reflexes caused her to seize the princess’s arm and flash her a concerned look. “Your Highness, are you okay?!”

At this point, it seemed like her handmaiden was panicking more than she was. “I-I’m fine, just a little shaken, I suppose.” She offered a light-hearted smile, and the servant looked at her curiously. She didn’t recognise the young girl; perhaps she was new, or usually elsewhere in the castle.

“What is your name?” She didn’t believe in treating servants badly; some people didn’t care to know their names, but she preferred to be able to call them by their names instead of refer to them as ‘you’ or ‘servant’ or just point at them.

“A-Ah, Coco Miyashita, Your Highness!” The servant bowed and then straightened her back rapidly, cringing as if she’d hurt herself in the process.

“There’s no need to strain yourself, Coco,” Kotori said kindly, bowing her head in acknowledgment to the servant who looked as if she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole. “Come on, Hanayo. Let’s go to the carriage and let fate have its way from there on.”

Her act of calmness seemed to have a soothing effect on Hanayo, who nodded and led Kotori (it seemed to be that way around, but in reality, Kotori had to drag her along) out of the safety of the castle and into a carriage driven by a purple-haired girl who offered them a grin as they boarded.

“Is she a Toujou?” Kotori inquired quietly once they were inside the carriage.

“Yes,” Hanayo nodded, “her name is Chiduko. She should be able to take good care of us on this journey.”

The journey was long and tedious, anxiety welling in Kotori’s heart every few minutes as she realised just what they were running away from. By leaving her kingdom behind, she was leaving her mother to deal with the stress of the battle on her own, leaving Eli to protect the kingdom to the best of her ability, and on top of it all, she could possibly never see either of them again. The thought caused her to feel queasy, not just from motion sickness but from the fact that she never even properly said goodbye. As if sensing her discomfort, Hanayo offered her water, which she accepted gratefully, bringing to her lips and allowing the cool liquid to ease her thoughts, even if just for a moment.

The plan was to keep Kotori hidden away somewhere Sonoda soldiers could not try and hurt her – by her mother’s own orders, she needed to be kept safe from the war and fighting. After a few days, a pigeon would be sent to their hide-out, and Kotori would be informed of how the battle ended and when she will be able to return. Then Chiduko would take them back, and whatever happened from there was a mystery to all.

The carriage was small and cramped, and it wasn’t long before Hanayo dozed off to distract herself from the boredom of travelling like that. Kotori chose to look out of the carriage, at the birds on the trees, the fields of grass and nature – so blissful, so oblivious to the warzone that was surely being formed behind them. It wasn’t long before the streets of the Minami kingdom would be stained by blood, the family crest tainted with violence and sin. It wasn’t long before numbers would be added to each soldier’s kill list, and names would be added to the list of the fallen, names that would be carved into stone and then slowly forgotten. Families would be torn apart, hearts would be broken, and the worst thing was, it was all for nothing. Nothing but a petty feud lasting centuries, so long that they didn’t even know why they were fighting anymore. As the horse trotted over bumps in the path and Chiduko called out to inform them that they had almost reached their destination, one thought raced through Kotori’s mind, a pessimistic thought, yet ultimately the truth.

_This is all… useless, isn’t it?_

And deep down, she knew that the masterminds behind the fighting knew that too.


End file.
